Lucy Parham
Pianist
One of Britain’s finest pianists, Lucy Parham applies her sensitivity and imagination not only to concertos and recitals, but also to portraits in words and music of such composers as Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy. Lucy Parham has performed throughout the UK and Europe, South Africa, USA, Canada and Russia.
As a concerto soloist with leading orchestras, she has appeared in the UK with the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, RTE Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia, Hallé and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and abroad with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra at the Tchaikovsky Hall and Great Hall in Moscow, Bergen Philharmonic, L’Orchestre National de Lille, L’Orchestre Rencontres Suisse, and on three tours with the Sofia Philharmonic and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2002 she joined the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Barry Wordsworth on a six-week 50th Anniversary tour of the USA and she has toured the UK, Mexico and Turkey with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with whom she has now given over sixty concerts.
In recent years, Lucy Parham has established herself as a leading interpreter of the works of Robert Schumann and of his wife, Clara. Among her other recordings are concertos by Ravel, Franck and Fauré (with the RPO for RPO Records), Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (with both the BBC Concert Orchestra for BBC Worldwide and the RPO for EMI Gold), a solo Chopin CD for ABM, the album ’The Romantic Piano’ for Sanctuary Classics and an acclaimed solo Schumann CD on ASV.
2002 brought the premiere, in the context of Wigmore Hall’s Masters Series, of her first concert of words and music concert, Beloved Clara, which traces the relationship between Robert and Clara Schumann and Brahms. The success of Beloved Clara has inspired five further evenings of words and music. Liszt – An Odyssey of Love; Nocturne – The Romantic Life of Frédéric Chopin; Rêverie – the life and loves of Claude Debussy. Her next show, Elegie – Rachmaninoff, A Heart in Exile was premiered at St Johns Smith Square and this will be heard in New Ross In September.
Celebrated actors who have collaborated with Lucy Parham in these composer portraits include Juliet Stevenson, Harriet Walter, Simon Russell Beale, Simon Callow, Lesley Sharp, Roger Allam, Gemma Jones, Sheila Hancock, Henry Goodman, Dominic West, Joanna David, Alistair McGowan, Patricia Hodge, Niamh Cusack, Rosamund Pike, Tim McInnerny, Michael Maloney, Gabrielle Drake, Edward Fox, Lloyd Owen, Robert Glenister, Greg Wise, Samuel West, Alex Jennings, Martin Jarvis, Timothy West and Charles Dance.
Lucy Parham first came to public attention as the Piano Winner of the 1984 BBC TV “Young Musician of the Year”. Having made her Royal Festival Hall concerto debut at 16, she has since appeared regularly at all the major concert venues in London and around the UK. Conductors with whom she collaborated include Barry Wordsworth, Sir Charles Groves, Bryden Thompson, Jane Glover, En Shao, Richard Hickox, Antoni Wit, Owain Arwel Hughes, Yoav Talmi, Carl Davis, Veronika Dudarova, Martyn Brabbins, Sian Edwards, John Wilson and Jean-Claude Cassadesus. She has appeared at almost all the major Festivals in the UK.
Lucy Parham is frequently heard as a guest or presenter on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.