James Cheung - new music - Telegraph James Cheung is a pianist of Asian parentage, brought up in Hemel Hempstead, who gave up his career in chamber music to become accompanist to many of the brightest young song recitalists - including Marcus Farnsworth, Jonathan McGovern, Ruby Hughes and Benjamin Appl. Was she a "tiger mom"? No, more like a Teddy Bear mom! I wasn't pushed; I was just very competitive and I wanted to be a pianist. Where did he train? First at the Royal Academy of Music, where he "felt a bit aimless," and then for two more focused years at the Moscow Conservatory, where he also met his musicologist wife. "It was a huge culture shock, but very exciting too," he says. How has his career developed? After several years playing with the successful piano trio Agon, he had a Damascene revelation at Aldeburgh when he attended a master class given by the great baritone Christian Gerhaher and his accompanist Gerold Huber. They have remained his mentors ever since. What attracts him to lieder? "Christian and Gerold explained to me that it's the most intimate form of making music - vocal chamber music," he says. It's like working under a microscope: exploring each song with meticulous detail and finding the right place for every single note. I also love the business of telling small dark stories in music. His favourite? The Schubert song-cycles seem to contain all of humanity. James Cheung accompanies Marcus Farnsworth in Schubert's Winterreise at Blackheath Concert Hall, SE3 on 1 December at 1.10pm