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Brendan Kavanagh

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For the Irish professional footballer, see Brandon Kavanagh.

Brendan Kavanagh
Kavanagh in 2021
Background information
Also known asDr K
BornOctober 1967 (1967-10) (age 57)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Pianist
  • piano teacher
Instruments
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
GenreMusic
Subscribers2.49 million Edit this at Wikidata[1]
(February 2024)
Total views1.36 billion[1]
(February 2024)
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers

Brendan Kavanagh (born October 1967[2][3]), also known as "Dr K" due to his PhD in English, is a British pianist and piano teacher of Irish descent. He specializes in playing and promoting the boogie-woogie genre, almost exclusively improvised, often combined with classical, jazz, blues, rock & roll, and traditional Irish music themes. He regularly performs in open venues on public pianos, sometimes in duet formats with musically inclined passers-by, friends or family. He also plays the piano accordion, with emphasis on traditional Irish tunes.[4][5]

Education

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Kavanagh attended St Aloysius' College, in Highgate from 1978 onwards.[6][7] He went on to study and then graduate from Middlesex University with first class single honours BA in English. He then obtained his MA in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama at University College Dublin, followed by a PhD in English language and literature from University College Cork.[8]

In the late 1980s, Kavanagh studied classical piano with professor Nelly Ben-Or MBE,[9] who helped him complete his Grade 8 theory and practical requirements. He credits his success today as an improvisational classical/boogie-woogie pianist to her support and encouragement of his improvisational style.[10]: 01:28  His boogie-woogie mentor is London pianist Hammy Howell (d. 1999) who gave a young Kavanagh three free music lessons to encourage his enthusiasm.[10]

Online presence and open public venue performances

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In 2007, Kavanagh founded Dr K Media Limited, moving his focus towards online teaching, selling, performing and promoting piano music, with a strong emphasis on the boogie-woogie style. With the rising popularity of smartphones allowing virtually anyone to capture, edit and disseminate musical performances, he began performing in open public venues and uploading his work to streaming platforms.[3]

He regularly performs as Dr K wearing his signature dark hoodie and shades, or wears a uniform as a disguise. He performs to the public passing-by; typically on public pianos at railway stations, airports and many other open public venues, mainly in London. His impromptu performances, weave together popular classical, boogie-woogie, Irish themes and are captured and uploaded to his Facebook page[11] (with 500 thousand followers) and to his YouTube channel, where he has over 2.49 million subscribers.[1][12]

In December 2023 he was interviewed on TalkTV for The James Whale Show[6][13] and claims to have earned a seven-figure sum that year, from his streaming activities. Kavanagh broadcasts some of his performances directly, via live streaming.[14][5][15]

St. Pancras Station piano dispute

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On 19 January 2024, Dr K uploaded to his YouTube channel a copy of his live stream, which was filmed from the station concourse. Since then it has achieved over 10 million views. The upload shows Dr K performing on the donated Elton John upright piano within St Pancras railway station. It was followed by a lively interaction with a Chinese group (which included Christine Lee),[16] some wearing colourful costumes and holding Chinese flags.[17] The group asked Dr K not to record or publish their images or voices, expressing their desire to protect their image rights because they were there on behalf of "Chinese TV". Dr K explained to them that filming in a public place is legal in Britain. A man from the group said they loved Dr K's music but you "cannot share our images online" and we "will put a legal action into it". During their exchanges, Dr K referred to both "Communist China" and "Communist flags", resulting in the man accusing Dr K of racism.[18][19][20]

During a conversation with a woman from the same group, Dr K pointed towards at the small Chinese flag she was holding and reached for it,[17][21] to which the same man from before started repeatedly screaming, "Why are you touching her?" and "Stop touching her!" Dr K recoiled back and responded he'd not touched the woman but the small flag she was holding.[22] As two uniformed British Transport Police officers arrived, one of them ordered Dr K to stop recording. A female officer told Dr K that, "because there’s money being made, and they work for a company", the Chinese group had requested the video be deleted. Dr K responded that she was acting like “private security” for the Chinese, an accusation she denied. She was then heard saying "you can't say that" in relation to his "we're not in China" comment. Dr K defended his actions by citing his rights of free speech, adding that he had not caused any trouble and had an implied right to film in a public place. The female police officer left the piano area, for a second time, to speak again to the same group of Chinese who had initially complained. The video footage doesn't show the officer when she returned to speak to Dr K.[20]

Following the incident, Kavanagh was interviewed by the media on the topic of the free-speech issues that he had raised.

He joined journalist Mike Graham in his studio and then appeared as a guest on Piers Morgan Uncensored on a subsequent evening. Both programmes were aired on TalkTV. Kavanagh told Morgan that his video clip already had "two strikes" against, for removal from his YouTube channel. He urged viewers to download the video in case it was permanently removed from his channel.[23][24][25]

Two weeks later, Dr K screened an email he quoted as originating from YouTube's legal team.[26] It appeared to request that he blur out the faces of some of the subjects shown on his video, citing YouTube's current privacy policy regarding the upload of videos that identify people without their consent.[27] The YouTube request ostensibly arose following a handful of alleged privacy infringement complaints.[28]

Professor of Politics Eric Kaufmann from the University of Buckingham, who was interviewed by a staff reporter from TalkTV, criticised the Chinese group for attempting to transplant their homeland authority and Chinese Communist Party values into Britain.[29]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "About Brendan Kavanagh". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Brendan KAVANAGH personal appointments – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, Jonathan (7 May 2017). "'Police officer' musician fools Londoners with dazzling piano skills". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020. Brendan Kavanagh, 49, from Wealdstone, donned various guises to appear at train stations and iconic landmarks across London to show off his musical prowess.
  4. ^ "The two best piano players on YouTube have joined forces, and yes, it is brilliant". Ireland Calling. 15 October 2019. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Teen's rendition of The Sound of Music's 'Edelweiss' at London Underground station goes viral". Classic FM. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  6. ^ a b Dr K Interview on The James Whale Show/TalkTV. TalkTV. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024 – via Brendan Kavanagh via YouTube.
  7. ^ Dr K / Brendan Kavanagh on Talk TV with James Whale – 1940 – 16th Dec 2023. digitalmediafan. 16 December 2023. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Musician's incredible piano skills make people stop and stare in Cork Airport". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  9. ^ Nelly Ben-Or on ITV news 26/1/21 (copyright ITV News) in HD. Daniela Clynes. 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ a b Dr K's classical and boogie-woogie mentors (01:28). Brendan Kavanagh. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2020 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Log in or sign up to view". m.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Brendan Kavanagh's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) – Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  13. ^ 'Harassed By Police For Playing Piano' | Brendan Kavanagh Full Interview With James Whale. Talk TV. 18 December 2023. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024 – via YOuTube.
  14. ^ "Two Irishmen meet by chance and play most amazing piano duet you've ever heard". Ireland Calling. 12 August 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. ^ "A 'workman' wowed commuters with his piano skills at St Pancras station". Time Out London. 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  16. ^ Terrats, Matthieu (27 January 2024). "Il se filme au piano en plein milieu de la gare, une femme lui demande d'arrêter : l'une des "touristes" chinoises est "un agent d'influence" pour le Parti Communiste, le MI5 donne l'alerte" (in French). L'Indépendant.
  17. ^ a b Loh, Matthew. "6 Chinese people demanded that a British pianist remove their faces from his public live stream. The ensuing fight has gone viral". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Sir Elton John's Piano – New & Events | St Pancras Station". St Pancras. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  19. ^ Zifei, Chen; Heung Yeung, Lee. "Chinese flag-wavers call in London cops over YouTuber's livestream". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  20. ^ a b Police Called To Stop Filming During Piano Livestream. Brendan Kavanagh. 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ Powel, James (25 January 2024). "London pianist goes viral after clash with 'Chinese TV' group over livestream". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  22. ^ Chung, Frank (23 January 2024). "London piano YouTuber accosted by Chinese group demanding he delete video showing their faces". news.com.au. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  23. ^ "We Are Not In Communist China" | Bizarre Viral Confrontation Of Musician Brendan Kavanagh. TalkTV. 23 January 2024. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Dr K Vs. The Chinese Communists – Interview On TalkTV. TalkTV. 23 January 2024. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024 – via Brendan Kavanagh via YouTube.
  25. ^ "VIDEO: Brendan Kavanagh tells Piers Morgan that 'forces are at play' to remove his viral video from YouTube | TalkTV". TalkTV. 25 January 2024. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  26. ^ URGENT: YOUTUBE LEGAL SUPPORT threaten removal of 'Pianogate', retrieved 5 February 2024
  27. ^ Protecting your identity at archive.today (archived 2021-06-02). Additional archives: Protecting your privacy.
  28. ^ YouTube Privacy Complaint Against Dr. K!, retrieved 5 February 2024
  29. ^ "They Tried To Bring CCP Authority To London" Pro-China Activist's Clash With Pianist EXPLAINED. TalkTV. 24 January 2024. Event occurs at 7:40. Archived from the original on 3 February 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024 – via YouTube.
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