James Rhodes

James Edward Rhodes (born 6 March 1975) is a British-Spanish concert pianist and writer, and an activist for the protection of minors against sexual abuse in Spain. Early life James Edward Rhodes was born into a middle class Jewish family in St John's Wood, North London. He was educated at Arnold House School, a local all-boys private preparatory school. There, he experienced sexual abuse by his PE teacher, who died before he could appear in court. Rhodes suffered mentally as well as physically, including spinal damage, eating disorders and PTSD. Aged 7, he found a cassette tape of Bach-Busoni Chaccone in his father's music collection. "Above all, it made him feel like even if it seemed as if the world really was a hostile and appalling place, it couldn’t be that bad because something this beautiful existed in it." He started to take piano lessons at the age of 14, but did not progress formally beyond Grade 3. First moving to a local boarding school, he was educated at Harrow School, where he studied under piano teacher Colin Stone. It was during this period that he entered the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, but failed to make it past the second round. In 1993, he was offered a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but his parents insisted that he attend a “proper university”. At the age of 18, Rhodes would quit playing piano for 10 years.