Programme for Saturday 9th Feb. 2008

Scarlatti        Sonatas

Albeniz          Iberia Book One

Moskovski     Caprice Espagnol

Chopin arr.    Balakrev Romanza- Piano Concerto No1 in E minor

Chopin           Sonata No 3 in B minor

Mini Biography

BENJAMIN GROSVENOR

 Piano

 ‘Music flows from his young hands’

Daily Telegraph

At the age of eleven, Benjamin was the outstanding winner of the Keyboard Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2004.  Born in 1992, he is the youngest of five brothers and began studying the piano with his mother at the age of six.  At eight years of age he was winning all of his classes at local festivals and at ten he became the youngest ever winner of the Southend Young Musician of the Year, the Essex Young Musician of the Year, the Emanuel Trophy (a national competition for the winners of senior classes at local festivals), and the European Piano Teachers' Association Trophy.

In his final year at primary school Benjamin passed his GCSE in mathematics and also began piano lessons with Hilary Coates and Christopher Elton.  As well as his regular studies at school, the Royal Academy of Music has awarded special affiliated scholarship status to Benjamin - something very rarely offered to a student of his age.

Benjamin gave his first full recital (with a cellist) in May 2003 at a local church and in November 2003 he made his first concerto appearance, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Westcliff High School Orchestra.

Engagements in 2004-05 included recital debuts at St George's, Bristol, and at the Wigmore Hall.  In February 2005, Benjamin toured the major cities in Scotland with The Scottish Ensemble, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K415 and Benjamin Britten’s The Young Apollo.  He made debuts at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in April 2005, and at the Barbican in the Mostly Mozart Festival London with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in July 2005.

Benjamin’s first project in 2005-06 was to prepare Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 for his Royal Albert Hall debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of the United Nations.  Later in the season Benjamin made both his North and South American concerto debuts with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall, and the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro.

Engagements in 2006-07 include performances of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia and English Chamber Orchestras, and recitals at the Wigmore Hall and St George's, Bristol.

Benjamin has recently signed an innovative development agreement with EMI whereby he will gain occasional studio experience over the coming years, and will have opportunities to meet and observe other recording artists, as a way of preparing for his own recordings with EMI in the future.

 

Benjamin Grosvenor appears by arrangement with Hazard Chase Ltd.
www.hazardchase.co.uk
www.benjamingrosvenor.co.uk