Saturday with Gary Beecher: As musicians, we have to treat ourselves as athletes

Gary Beecher. Picture: Frances Marshall

07.00

My one-year-old daughter Sofia doesn’t let me sleep in so I’ll be up at around 7am. Myself and my wife Annie will give her breakfast.

I try to stay healthy and I’m always hungry too. I have porridge with blueberries every day – it fills me up and gets me through to lunchtime. We get our coffee from Stone Valley Coffee Roasters. The guys that run it are musician friends of mine – John Boyle and Tom Edwards. They’ve a great set up in Clonakilty and their coffee beans are second to none.

09.30

If I’m rehearsing that day we might go for a walk with Sofia and then I’ll head into the Cork Opera House at about 9.30am for warm up. If I have the morning off we might go out for breakfast, or, with my hectic schedule, I’ll be practising for the next gig.

My wife Annie has been on maternity leave for the past year which has really allowed me to take on a lot of gigs as well as my teaching work. She is really supportive of my performing career - I’m very lucky. I could be in Cork, Dublin, London or somewhere else on a Saturday. Last week myself and mezzo soprano Niamh O’Sullivan were in Bristol for a lunchtime recital which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. A friend of mine who also works in MTU Cork School of Music, Eoin O’Callaghan, is also a pilot and was flying the plane for Emerald Airlines so it was a treat to go into the cockpit too.

10.00

I’ll slowly play through the music and look through the programme. I will have already spent a number of weeks preparing things so it’s a last look over the music. I’ll do stretches – exercises to loosen out the body and get rid of any tension. As musicians, we have to treat ourselves as athletes.

The way we approach the instrument is very gestural and can change the way it sounds. If you approach it with your full body you will get a warmer sound whereas if you approach it with a sharp attack on the instrument you’ll create a harsher sound.

It’s very much a full body workout when you’re playing. There’s a physical aspect to it also – the players need to warm up their bodies before we begin. There’s a mental aspect to it too – you’re very actively focused - you’re in the moment and always thinking ahead.

This can be quite mentally draining so there is a psychological aspect to preparing yourself - almost a ritual that you go through and everyone’s ritual is slightly different.

I’m quite a sociable person and love interacting with other musicians and having a ‘musical conversation’. It makes it fun and the audience responds to that too. I love hearing the odd chuckle from the audience when I’ve surprised someone.

13.00

If it’s the day of a concert we might have a three-hour rehearsal session from 2pm to 5pm and then back in at 7.30pm for an 8pm show. If it’s a day of rehearsals only we might have rehearsal from 10am until 1pm, 2.30pm to 5.30pm, 7pm to 10.30pm. I’ll grab an Umi Falafel – it’s filling and doesn’t feel too unhealthy.

18.00

If I’m having dinner between rehearsal and performing I’ll grab a bite in Bella Napoli. Most players don’t like to eat before a performance but I can’t play if I haven’t had a meal.

The 2025 Ultimate Classics concert will see 56 players take to the stage – drawn from the core instrumentalists of the Cork Opera House Concert Orchestra as well as additional musicians from the island of Ireland. I think classical music is for everyone, and the Ultimate Classics, curated and conducted by me, is all about music that people hear in everyday life and recognise.

23.00

It’s such a rush being on stage. I love the buzz I get from it but, like any buzz, there’s a come-down afterwards. It’s nice to wind down with a burger and a pint and to have a social element.

I work with a lot of the same people, often colleagues become friends, and there’s a good bit of craic to be had after a gig – it’s almost like a celebration. If I tried to go home straight after an event I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I wouldn’t be too late getting home these days though because I’m on duty with the baby first thing in the morning.

01.00

I like to listen to sleep stories because my mind is quite active after a gig. You’d laugh if you saw my Spotify playlist – there’s my classical programme, white noise for Sofia, nursery rhymes, pop and funk – it’s eclectic!

The minute Sofia hears any kind of music she rocks back and forth and hums along. She’ll sit up on my lap at the piano and hammer the keys while I’m playing. She still wakes up once or twice a night, so if I’m up I might be thinking of work and my next performance, but once I’m asleep I’m good to go.

• Award-winning pianist and conductor, Gary Beecher is curating and conducting the Ultimate Classics Proms on April 23 in Cork Opera House. The event will feature iconic masterpieces that define cinema, television and popular culture including The Nutcracker Suite from Disney’s Fantasia, Debussy’s Clair de Lune as featured in Ocean’s Eleven and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries as heard in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. See corkoperahouse.ie