Artists / Faculties
Piano: Simon Callaghan
“…an eloquent advocate” - The Sunday Times
“…spirited and skilful playing” The Birmingham Post
“...with passion, total commitment and... heartfelt affection” - Gramophone
“...a wonderful pianist” - Sir Roger Norrington
Steinway Artist Simon Callaghan’s recent tours have taken him to Asia, Europe and North America, and to the UK’s major concert halls including Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, St David’s Hall Cardiff and Manchester’s Bridgewater and Stoller Halls.
Following his début recording for Hyperion’s lauded Romantic Piano Concerto series in 2017 (Roger Sacheverell Coke’s Concerti with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins), in 2018 Simon joined conductor Ben Gernon to release a further disc in the same series, of concertos by Rheinberger and Scholz. The disc reached No. 2 in the specialist classical charts and garnered enthusiastic reviews across the press. Simon’s first solo recording for Hyperion, of solo works by Nicodé (world premieres), will be available in 2019. Callaghan’s interest in rarely performed works has also led to invitations to perform concerti by Françaix, Tippett and to give the first UK performance since 1946 of Medtner’s 3rd Concerto. His rapidly-expanding discography includes solo works by Brahms, Delius, Sterndale Bennett, Parry and Coke among others, on the SOMM, Lyrita, Danacord and Resonus labels.
Simon has broadcast frequently on BBC radio and television. Contemporary music performances have included works by Joseph Phibbs, Julian Anderson, Kenneth Hesketh and Thea Musgrave, and he was recently invited by the Royal College of Music to play Boulez’s ‘Dérive II’ as part of their ‘Variable Geometry’ series. In addition to his performing schedule, Callaghan is Director of Music at Conway Hall, where he oversees the longest-running chamber music series in Europe. He is also a PhD Researcher at the Royal Northern College of Music, working to bring the oeuvre of Roger Sacheverell Coke into the public domain.