Jonathan Plowright
BackGold Medallist at the Royal Academy of Music and a Fulbright Scholar, Jonathan also won first prize in 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.
Jonathans last eight CD recordings have been exclusively for Hyperion records, the UK’s largest and highly respected independent classical music label. Most recently his commemorative 'Hommage a Chopin' recording attracted unanimous praise, 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.
During the past decade Jonathan has become a known as an advocate of the Polish Romantic repertoire and besides his popular disc of pieces by Chopin, 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, on Hyperion Records, 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, 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 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. "
In 2006 his Hyperion recording of Bach transcriptions by Walter Rummel, was also released to great critical acclaim. His recording of the Constant Lambert Piano Concerto (which he world premiered in 1988) with David Lloyd Jones and the English Northern Philharmonia for Hyperion in 2005, was Gramophone Editor’s Choice and CD of the Week in both The Sunday Times and ClassicFM.
Recent memorable engagements included recitals with the Szymanowski Quartet in Krakow, at the Wigmore Hall in London, at the Albeniz Centenary celebrations in Majorca, as well as concerto appearances with Chichester Camerata and the Arthur Rubenstein Philharmonic in Poland. 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.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paderewski in November, Jonathan has been invited back by the Polish Music Centre in Los Angeles for a series of recitals in the USA.
Jonathan is Head of Keyboard at the University of Chichester and on the Keyboard Faculty of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama. He is also often invited to give masterclasses, consultation lessons and prize adjudications at competitions and international conservatoires.
For more information visit: /www.jonathanplowright.com