Leon McCawley

Program

A regular performer at the BBC proms, Leon McCawley has recently performed a series of recitals with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. A pianist praised for his clarity, sonority, and depth of musical thought, McCawley performs works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and two works from Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage. In partnership with Levine Music, McCawley gives a public master class with select students prior to his Phillips performance. 

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
6 Variations on ‘Nel cor piu non mi sento,’ Wo0 70
Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
3 Songs Without Words, Op.53

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31

Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
From Années de pèlerinage
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca
Venezia e Napoli

About the Artist

Leon McCawley, one of Britain’s foremost pianists, has forged a highly successful career since winning First Prize in the 1993 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition at age nineteen. Championing core classical repertoire together with the unknown, McCawley’s CD releases have been impressing critics far and wide. His 2014 CD of Schumann’s Piano Music for Somm Recordings is no exception: “Clarity is the byword here: clarity in every conceivable sense, in terms of texture and sonority, pedaling, tempos and of musical thought…Leon McCawley proves a wholly faithful guide to these wonderful works” (International Record Review, April 2014).

McCawley has been praised for the purity of his lyrical and heartfelt performances. In 2010 McCawley debuted at Lincoln Center New York, Hong Kong Arts Festival and returned for the fourth time to the International Piano Series in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to great acclaim. In April 2011 he performed the Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas over one weekend at King’s Place, London in winning performances: “There’s absolutely no vanity in his playing, which is bright, clean and unfailingly communicative. In his hands the Mozartian oeuvre emerged with striking vividness” (International Piano). Other notable recitals in past seasons include the London Piano Series at the Wigmore Hall in London, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus in Berlin, Frick Collection, Kumho Recital Hall in Seoul and Rudolfinum in Prague. He can be frequently heard on BBC Radio 3 both in performance and interview; 2013 broadcasts included Wigmore Hall Lunchtime Series, Perth Concert Hall and Hay Festival.

As a concerto soloist, McCawley performs with many of the leading British orchestras including the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Royal Northern Sinfonia. He has performed five times at BBC Proms. Further afield, McCawley has made concerto appearances with, amongst others, Adelaide Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra (where he was praised as “a master of tone and articulation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer) and Vienna Symphony and worked with conductors such as Mark Elder, Daniele Gatti, Andrew Litton, Kurt Masur, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo and Simon Rattle.

McCawley studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester with Heather Slade-Lipkin before continuing his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia with Eleanor Sokoloff. He also worked closely with Nina Milkina in London.

A keen chamber musician, he has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with a range of ensembles and musicians at many prestigious concert venues including BBC Proms Chamber Series, BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Series at the Wigmore Hall and Aldeburgh, Brighton, Cheltenham and Edinburgh festivals. McCawley is professor of piano at London’s Royal College of Music. He is married to the painter Anna Hyunsook Paik.

Watch and Listen

Leon McCawley performs the third movement from Mozart’s Piano Sonata No.17 in B-flat Major, K.570