OVER TIME MY FOCUS BECAME MORE AND MORE THE PIANO.

Classical Piano Prize, donated by two longtime supporters of the New York Philharmonic. As a result of that, Grosvenor performs a series of concerts this week in New York with the orchestra, but this doesn’t worry him. When he performed with this notoriously tough orchestra four years ago, he received rave reviews.

So what’s his secret? Grosvenor admits there is no mystery, he’s simply hugely focused. “I had other interests when I was young but over time my focus became more and more the piano. From the age of 11 I was always busy preparing for concerts, so that gave me a focus.” But surely there were periods when he rebelled?

Even the most serious pianists like Murray Perahia and Stephen Hough recall idling away large parts of their teenage years, before realizing that they really had pianist Dinu Lipatti, which I still love,” says Grosvenor. “He actually wanted to be a concert pianist himself.” Grosvenor speaks with palpable fondness whenever he discusses his family — he is the youngest of the brothers, all of whom played musical instruments. “They all gave it up before I became serious about the piano.”

He even gained a place at the world-famous Yehudi Menuhin School for gifted children at the age of nine but left after two days because he missed his siblings. He speaks with special affection of one in particular, Jonathan, who has Down’s syndrome. “He loves pop music and listens to it an awful lot. That and writing are his two passions.” Does he come to your concerts? “He did. During my teens he would travel with my mother. He still comes now and again, but it’s not really his thing. He says