Piers Lane
Encyclopedia
Piers Lane is an Australian classical pianist. His performance career has taken him to more than 40 countries. His concerto repertoire exceeds 75 works.
. Although born in London, he grew up in Brisbane
. He graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where his teacher was Nancy Weir
, winning the Margaret Nickson Prize in 1978 and the Ruby C Cooling prize in 1977 and 1978. He was later awarded an honorary doctorate
by the conservatorium.
He first came to prominence at the inaugural Sydney International Piano Competition
in 1977, at which he was named Best Australian Pianist (he was a judge at the 2004 competition). He later studied overseas on a Churchill Fellowship.
performances at Avery Fisher Hall
, Lincoln Center
in New York with the American Symphony Orchestra
under Leon Botstein
; Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
with The Queensland Orchestra, which received a Limelight Award for Best Orchestral Concert of 2007; concerto appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony
, London Philharmonic
, Hallé
and Ulster Orchestra
s; a solo recital in Birmingham
’s Symphony Hall for the BBC; a three-recital series called Metamorphoses and an all-Chopin
recital at the Wigmore Hall
in London; and appearances in many major piano festivals in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. He has also played with all ABC and BBC Orchestras, the Aarhus, City of Birmingham, Bournemouth
, Gothenburg and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
s, the Hallé, Philharmonia
, Kanazawa Ensemble and City of London Sinfonia
, the London, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
s and the Orchestre National de France
among many others. He has been soloist five times at the BBC Proms
in London’s Royal Albert Hall
.
Engagements in Australia and New Zealand during 2008 include a second national tour with Cheryl Barker
and her husband baritone Peter Coleman-Wright for Musica Viva Australia
, concerto performances in Christchurch
and Dunedin
and solo recitals in Adelaide
, Auckland
, Brisbane
, Newcastle
, Noosa and Perth
.
Recent collaborations as a chamber player have included a Musica Viva tour of Australia with violist/composer Brett Dean
and performances with Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg
in Malmö
, Stockholm and the Bergen Festival. He continues his long-standing partnership with British violinist Tasmin Little
in UK recital tours.
Piers Lane is currently the Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music
held annually in Townsville
.
Piers Lane has an extensive discography on the Hyperion
label and has also recorded for EMI
, Decca
, BMG, Lyrita
and Unicorn-Khanchana. Recent releases from Hyperion include concertos by Eyvind Alnæs
and Christian Sinding
, a Delius
song disc with Yvonne Kenny
and a recording of Ernest Bloch
's Piano Quintets with the Goldner String Quartet
, which was an Editor’s Choice in the December 2007 Gramophone magazine and BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Month for February 2008. He is one of the few pianists to have recorded John Ireland's Piano Concerto in E-flat. Piers Lane is a well-known voice on BBC Radio 3
, having written and presented more than 100 programs, including a 54-part series called The Piano.
In 1994 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music
, where he has been a professor of piano since 1989. In 2007 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University
, Brisbane.
Piers Lane is the Artistic Director of the Myra Hess
Day held annually at the National Gallery in London, which this year will be on 25 November, and of the Bloch Festival which took place at Wigmore Hall, London, at the end of April 2009 with another performance on 15 July 2009.
Lane's recording of Ernest Bloch Piano Quintets Nos 1 and 2 with the Goldner Quartet (Hyperion) was nominated for BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2009.
Early life
His English father and Australian mother met while auditioning as piano students for the Royal College of MusicRoyal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
. Although born in London, he grew up in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. He graduated with a Medal of Excellence from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where his teacher was Nancy Weir
Nancy Weir
Nancy Mary Weir was an Australian pianist and teacher.-Biography:Nancy was born in Kew, Melbourne on 13 July 1915. Her father was a publican who ran a small hotel in Lockhart, near Wagga Wagga, and Nancy grew up "behind the bar" as she said. She studied piano with Ada Corder in Melbourne...
, winning the Margaret Nickson Prize in 1978 and the Ruby C Cooling prize in 1977 and 1978. He was later awarded an honorary doctorate
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
by the conservatorium.
He first came to prominence at the inaugural Sydney International Piano Competition
Sydney International Piano Competition
The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia is a music competition, presented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in association with the University of Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia. It is held every four years, over a three-week period in July-August, and is...
in 1977, at which he was named Best Australian Pianist (he was a judge at the 2004 competition). He later studied overseas on a Churchill Fellowship.
Recent years
Highlights in the past two years have included concertoConcerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
performances at Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
, Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
in New York with the American Symphony Orchestra
American Symphony Orchestra
The American Symphony Orchestra is a New York-based American orchestra founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski, then aged 80. Following Maestro Stokowski's departure, Kazuyoshi Akiyama was appointed Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra from 1973-1978. Music Directors during the early...
under Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein is an American conductor and the President of Bard College . Botstein is the music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director and principal conductor from 2003-2010...
; Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)
The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Emperor Concerto, was his last piano concerto. It was written between 1809 and 1811 in Vienna, and was dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, Beethoven's patron and pupil...
with The Queensland Orchestra, which received a Limelight Award for Best Orchestral Concert of 2007; concerto appearances with the City of Birmingham Symphony
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock...
, London Philharmonic
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
, Hallé
The Hallé
The Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
and Ulster Orchestra
Ulster Orchestra
The Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall...
s; a solo recital in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
’s Symphony Hall for the BBC; a three-recital series called Metamorphoses and an all-Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
recital at the Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
in London; and appearances in many major piano festivals in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. He has also played with all ABC and BBC Orchestras, the Aarhus, City of Birmingham, Bournemouth
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
, Gothenburg and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....
s, the Hallé, Philharmonia
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
, Kanazawa Ensemble and City of London Sinfonia
City of London Sinfonia
The City of London Sinfonia is an English chamber orchestra based in London. In London, the CLS performs regularly at Cadogan Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. It is also the resident orchestra at Opera Holland Park. The CLS has annual residencies in four towns in Southern England: Ipswich, King's...
, the London, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
s and the Orchestre National de France
Orchestre National de France
The Orchestre national de France is a symphony orchestra run by Radio France. It has also been known as the Orchestre national de la Radiodiffusion française and Orchestre national de l'Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française .Since 1944, the orchestra has been based in the Théâtre...
among many others. He has been soloist five times at the BBC Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
in London’s Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
Engagements in Australia and New Zealand during 2008 include a second national tour with Cheryl Barker
Cheryl Barker
Cheryl Barker is an Australian operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the late 1980s. She has sung on several complete opera recordings with Chandos Records, including Dvořák's Rusalka , Janáček's The Makropulos Case , Janáček's Káťa Kabanová , and Puccini's Madama...
and her husband baritone Peter Coleman-Wright for Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
, concerto performances in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
and Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
and solo recitals in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
, Noosa and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
Recent collaborations as a chamber player have included a Musica Viva tour of Australia with violist/composer Brett Dean
Brett Dean
Brett Dean is a contemporary Australian composer, violist and conductor.-Career:Dean studied at the Queensland Conservatorium where he received a Medal of Excellence. From 1985 to 1999, Dean was a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2000, he decided to pursue a career as a freelance...
and performances with Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg
Bengt Forsberg
Bengt Forsberg is a Swedish concert pianist most famous for his numerous collaborations with the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. He participated in her project to record songs written in the concentration camp of Terezín. Forsberg has a reputation as a champion of neglected music and composers...
in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, Stockholm and the Bergen Festival. He continues his long-standing partnership with British violinist Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little is an English violinist.She studied under Pauline Scott at the Yehudi Menuhin School and later at the Guildhall School of Music, coming to prominence as a string section finalist in the 1982 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition...
in UK recital tours.
Piers Lane is currently the Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Australian Festival of Chamber Music
The Australian Festival of Chamber Music is a ten-day international festival focused on chamber music but also featuring tours of regional and remote Australia, fine food, master classes for musicians and lecture series by international scientists themed on the Great Barrier Reef.20 to 30 chamber...
held annually in Townsville
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
.
Piers Lane has an extensive discography on the Hyperion
Hyperion Records
Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by...
label and has also recorded for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, BMG, Lyrita
Lyrita
Lyrita is a classical music record label, specializing in the works of British composers.Lyrita began releasing LPs in October 1959 as Lyrita Recorded Edition for sale by mail order subscription. The founder of the company, Richard Itter of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, was a businessman and record...
and Unicorn-Khanchana. Recent releases from Hyperion include concertos by Eyvind Alnæs
Eyvind Alnæs
Eyvind Alnæs was a Norwegian composer, pianist, organist and choir director.Alnæs studied music first in Oslo with Iver Holter, then in Leipzig with Carl Reinecke and, after the première of his first symphony in 1896, in Berlin with Julius Ruthardt.From 1895 to 1907 Alnæs served as an organist in...
and Christian Sinding
Christian Sinding
Christian August Sinding was a Norwegian composer.-Personal life:He was born in Kongsberg as a son of mine superindendent Matthias Wilhelm Sinding and Cecilie Marie Mejdell . He was a brother of the painter Otto Sinding and the sculptor Stephan Sinding...
, a Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
song disc with Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny AM is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.Born in Sydney, she first studied at the University of Sydney in science, hoping to become a biochemist, but decided to pursue a career in music instead...
and a recording of Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch was a Swiss-born American composer.-Life:Bloch was born in Geneva and began playing the violin at age 9. He began composing soon afterwards. He studied music at the conservatory in Brussels, where his teachers included the celebrated Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe...
's Piano Quintets with the Goldner String Quartet
Richard Goldner
Richard Goldner was a Romanian-born, Viennese-trained Australian violist, pedagogue and inventor. He founded Musica Viva Australia in 1945, which became the world's largest entrepreneurial chamber music organisation. The Goldner String Quartet was named in his memory.-Biography:Richard Goldner...
, which was an Editor’s Choice in the December 2007 Gramophone magazine and BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Month for February 2008. He is one of the few pianists to have recorded John Ireland's Piano Concerto in E-flat. Piers Lane is a well-known voice on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
, having written and presented more than 100 programs, including a 54-part series called The Piano.
In 1994 he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, where he has been a professor of piano since 1989. In 2007 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
, Brisbane.
Piers Lane is the Artistic Director of the Myra Hess
Myra Hess
Dame Myra Hess DBE was a British pianist.She was born in London as Julia Myra Hess, but was best known by her middle name. At the age of five she began to study the piano and two years later entered the Guildhall School of Music, where she graduated as winner of the Gold Medal...
Day held annually at the National Gallery in London, which this year will be on 25 November, and of the Bloch Festival which took place at Wigmore Hall, London, at the end of April 2009 with another performance on 15 July 2009.
Lane's recording of Ernest Bloch Piano Quintets Nos 1 and 2 with the Goldner Quartet (Hyperion) was nominated for BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2009.
Sources
- Hazard Chase Music Management Company_Biography
- Piers Lane Official Website
- Hyperion Records
- Answers.com
- Profile, Weekend AustralianThe AustralianThe Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
, 26–27 June 2004