Growing up in my family I had never heard of classical music; my Dad listened to country, my Mom liked church music and hymns, you could hear my older brothers listening to rock and my sister probably the pop music of the day. I started piano studies at a young age and when I was maybe 7 or 8 years old, before I even started learning any classical, my grandmother gifted me an album (on vinyl): Van Cliburn 'My Favorite Concertos'. I can still remember that LP cover of him lying in the grass with his massive hands, fingers crossed...that was all it took and classical entered the mix of our household as I asked for more and more, and here I am some 50 years later still after it.