Music at GMC

Concert: Piano Recital Date: 7.30pm, Friday 20th April, 2018 Performer: Duncan Honeybourne

Branded “the heroic Duncan Honeybourne” by Musical Opinion and commended for the “suave confidence” of his playing by International Piano magazine, Duncan has established a diverse international profile as pianist, writer and in music education. His debut in 1998 as soloist at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, was broadcast on radio and television, and recital debuts included London, Paris and the Miry Concertzaal in Ghent, Belgium, during the international piano festival Gentse Vleugels. His first solo disc was described by Gramophone magazine as “not to be missed by all lovers of English music”, whilst BBC Music Magazine reported: “There are gorgeous things here. Hard to imagine better performances.”

Duncan has toured extensively as recitalist, concerto soloist, lecture recitalist and chamber musician in the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium and Switzerland. He has given recitals at major venues and leading festivals at home and abroad, has performed 30 different piano concertos and partnered many renowned artists in chamber music. His solo performances have been frequently broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and radio networks worldwide, including France Musique, ABC Classic FM (Australia), Irish, Swiss and Finnish Radio and Radio New Zealand Concert.

Duncan's acclaimed recordings on several labels reflect his interest in 20th and 21st century British piano and chamber music. Many celebrated composers have dedicated new works to him, including John Joubert, Sadie Harrison, the late Peter Reynolds and Andrew Downes, whose Piano Concerto he premiered at Birmingham Town Hall. Of Duncan's performance of Joubert's Third Sonata, Musical Opinion wrote: “The sonata's disparate elements coalesced logically into a powerful entity as the work's dedicatee unfolded each phrase and paragraph at white heat. This cogently argued and emotionally charged performance was the highlight of the concert.”

Duncan Honeybourne has written for Classical Music, International Piano, The Times, the Jewish Chronicle and the Birmingham Post. He is a Piano Tutor at the University of Southampton and Sherborne School.

“pianism of rarefied emotions and storming virtuosity” - MusicWeb International

“Duncan Honeybourne's playing is astonishingly affectionate, yet never saccharine” - International Piano

“a most accomplished pianist” - Classic FM

SHADOWS: Echoes of the Great War

A piano recital programme for 2018
Created, written and presented by Duncan Honeybourne

Devised to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice that ended the First World War, this programme is woven around Ravel's captivating suite Le Tombeau de Couperin, each of its six dance movements inscribed to the memory of a friend killed in this “war to end all wars”. Around this thread it delves into the works of composers who served, lost their lives or were deeply affected by the conflict, and piano music from a later era which reflects on those turbulent years and the War's shattering cost to humankind.