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Hailed by reviewers as "a colossal
musical mind" with a "transcendent technique",
Jonathan Plowright is recognised globally as a truly exceptional
pianist.
Gold Medallist at the Royal Academy of Music and a
Fulbright Scholar, prizewinner in many competitions, Jonathan also won
the Gold
Medal at the Royal Overseas League Competition as well as first prize at
the European Piano Competition. Critics,
colleagues and audiences alike have since had unanimous praise for his
many national and international performances and he has been in demand
all over the world as recitalist, appeared with leading orchestras and
ensembles and given numerous radio broadcasts. He has
a hugely successful string of recordings on the Hyperion label all of
which have been enthusiastically received with outstanding reviews in
the worldwide media.
Recordings
Jonathan is now well established on Hyperion Records distinguished roster of pianists.
His latest CD released in April 2013, and his 3rd for their Romantic Piano Concerto Series, featured Concertos by Zelenski and Zarzyki and went straight to Number 3 in the Classical Charts.
His commemorative 'Hommage a Chopin' recording also reached the Top Twenty Classical Chart and attracted many accolades, including the prestigious
Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Gramophone Editor’s
Choice, Diapason D'Or and CD of the Week on both
ClassicFM and ABC ClassicFM. Likewise, his follow-up 'Homage to Paderewski' disc was
Daily Telegraph Classical CD of the Week.
His
recording of the Constant Lambert Piano Concerto (which he world
premiered in 1988) with David Lloyd Jones and the English Northern
Philharmonia, was Gramophone Editor’s Choice
and CD of the Week in both The Sunday Times and
ClassicFM.
His first chamber music disc for the label was released in December 2012 featuring the
Szymanowski Quartet in works by Polish Romantic composers, Zarebski and
Zelenski, and was BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice.
Also, in December 2012 Jonathan joined BIS Records to record the complete solo piano music of Brahms, the first volume of which
received 5 Star Reviews in numerous publications, an 'Outstanding' Award from International Record Review,
was both
Gramophone and ABC Limelight Magazine Editor’s Choice,
and described as "one of the finest performances on record".
Click
here
for more information on all Jonathan's recordings.
Concerts
Jonathan has enjoyed performing in some of the finest venues around the world, and recent
memorable solo engagements have included recitals at the Wigmore Hall
in London, at the Albeniz Centenary celebrations in Majorca,
at the 'Black and White Keys' series at the Sendesaal for Radio Bremen and at the SWR 'Piano Marathon' in Mainz, Germany.
Also highly respected as a chamber musician, Jonathan regularly collaborates with other musicians, and last summer saw his debut
appearances at chamber festivals in Australia, Turkey and the Ukraine.
Amongst those he has performed with are fellow pianists Piers Lane,
Artur Pizarro, Frederick Chiu, Leslie Howard and Kathy Stott,
instrumentalists such as Raphael Wallfisch, Leonid Gorokov, the Coull
Quartet, the Szymanowski Quartet, the Scottish Ensemble amongst others.
He has appeared with many major orchestras, including the London
Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, the Hallé, the Royal
Philharmonic, BBC Concert, English Chamber, the Odessa Philharmonic, the
Warsaw Philharmonic, the Polish Radio and Polish National, although most
memorable was a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the
combined forces of the United States Air Force and Red Army Bands!
He has worked with notable conductors such as Martyn Brabbins, Paul
Daniel, Sir Neville Marriner, Gérard Korsten, Christoph Koenig,
Barry Wordsworth, Lukasz Borowicz and Michal Dworzynski.
The Polish Romantics
During the
past decade Jonathan has become well known as an advocate of the
neglected Polish
Romantic repertoire and
his first recording of a rare collection of pieces by Paderewski earned
Jonathan an invitation by the Paderewski in Memoriam Foundation to give
the closing recital of the Polish Parliament’s 2001 ‘Year of Paderewski’
celebrations in Warsaw.
Jonathan's recordings featuring the
music of the largely forgotten Polish/US emigré Sigismund Stojowski led
to a revival of interest in his music after several generations of
neglect and attracted considerable attention in the international music
press. The discs were both named 'Record of
the Month' in the Polish national music monthly Muzyka 21 and
Jonathan has since been invited to perform with the Warsaw Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Polish National
Symphony Orchestra.
In 2006 he gave a sell-out Weill Hall recital promoted
by the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York.
Whilst in the USA he was also invited to perform at a special event at
the Polish Music Centre at the University of Southern California, in the
presence of Stojowski's surviving family, on the occasion of the 60th
anniversary of his death and in celebration of their donation of the
Stojowski manuscripts and personal papers to the University.
His hugely successful Hyperion recording of the notoriously difficult
Paderewski Sonata in 2007 was admired by many, including the BBC "The
playing is world-class; understated virtuosity at its best."
To
commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paderewski in November
2010, Jonathan was invited back by the Polish Music Centre in Los
Angeles for a series of recitals in the USA, including the Paderewski
Festival, which Jonathan was instrumental in re-launching as an annual
event in Paso Robles, a spa town with an historic association with the
famous composer, pianist and statesman.
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of
Chopin in 2010, as well as recitals throughout Poland, Jonathan was also
invited to appear with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra during their
special Year of Chopin celebrations.
Education
Jonathan is Head of Keyboard at the University of
Chichester and on the Keyboard Faculty of the Royal Conservatoire of
Scotland. He is also often
invited to give masterclasses, consultation lessons and prize
adjudications at competitions and international conservatoires.
Spring 2013
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