HE has played on some of the world’s most prestigious stages from London’s Royal Festival Hall to Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

But international pianist Stephen Hough told Weekend that coming home to play in Warrington is just as special.

The former Thelwall County pupil will be reuniting with old friends when he plays at St Peter's Church in Oughtrington on February 16.

Stephen said: “I’ve played very regularly in Grappenhall and Lymm over the last 20 years.

“It’s lovely to come back and I know so many old neighbours and people I was at school with.

“It’s a very special atmosphere and I still feel very strong links with the whole Warrington area.

“The Warrington Guardian was on the doormat of our house every week when I was growing up. It’s been part of my life.”

Stephen was awarded a CBE for services to music in the New Year’s Honours List and will be celebrating in Lymm with his mum Netta who he has not seen since it was announced.

“It was complete surprise and very gratifying really,” added the 52-year-old.

“It took me back in my mind to my school in Thelwall and life seems so short because it doesn’t seem so long since I was learning to read and write and misbehaving at school.

“It all seems rather strange when you look at that in perspective.

“It’s nice because very often the arts can get overlooked in these sorts of situations. “Sportspeople and people in business get recognised but painters, actors and musicians sometimes get left behind so it’s nice to see the arts acknowledged in that way.”

When Weekend spoke to Stephen he had just played a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

So is it strange making the transition from a huge venue like that to a modest church hall?

Stephen said: “It’s a 3,000 seat hall. It’s vast and huge and you have to play in a different kind of way to project right to the back of the auditorium.

“But in a way it doesn’t feel any different playing to a small audience in a small place because you’re playing for each individual person.

“So if it’s 50 people sitting there or 5,000 sitting there it’s not that different.

“I love playing in intimate spaces, especially churches. I think they have a wonderful sense of atmosphere.

“Whatever your religious beliefs, a church is built as a place for very special feelings.

“Music is an element of that. When you go to a concert you want to be lifted out of yourself and given a new sense of joy.

“So to me that’s as valid in a smaller church as it is in a big concert hall.”

Stephen’s parents Colin and Netta did not own a piano when he was growing up in All Saints Drive in Thelwall.

But his aunt Ethel in Grappenhall did and he was spellbound every time he touched the ivories.

He added: “When we went to visit her I would always go and play it.

“I just loved it and begged my parents to buy me a piano and eventually they bought one from an antiques shop in Stockton Heath.”

The first song Stephen learnt was The Sound of Music and that was just the start.

He was so dedicated that he would often turn down invites from friends to play out.

“I just thought it was the best thing ever,” said Stephen, who lived in York Drive in Grappenhall.

“I think from the start there was a real natural feeling.

“By the time my music teacher, Felicity Riley, had got in her car I had already learnt the pieces she had left me for the whole week so I was very much like a sponge in that first year.

“My parents had to force me to get off the piano stool to get some fresh air.”

Stephen also said that one of the best things about his career has been the chance to connect with people all around globe.

He added: “Now I have friends in so many parts of the world. I have people I love being with in Sydney, Chicago and Singapore.

“And I was in Tokyo before Christmas and that was special because it does feel very different to Europe.

“It’s wonderful that there are people that you couldn’t say one sentence to in the audience and yet through music you are able to communicate something very intimate.

“That’s a very exciting thing.”

- Stephen Hough will be playing the works of Schoenberg, Strauss, Wagner, Bruckner, Liszt and Brahms at St Peter’s Church in Oughtrington on February 16 at 3pm.

Tickets are £15 (£5 for students 21 and under). Visit lymmfestival.org.uk