Joseph Middleton (born 10 January 1981) is a British

classical pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

accompanist Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of ...

Biography

Middleton was born in

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. At school he played piano, violin, flute and organ. He read music at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

where he graduated with the concerto and conducting awards, a first class

BMus Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of presc ...

and MPhil, and went on to study on an

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Entrance Scholarship at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

. At the academy he studied with

Malcolm Martineau Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist. Life Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had ...

and Michael Dussek and won all the academy's piano accompaniment awards, in addition to those at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

International Song Competition.,

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the c ...

Awards,

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

Award,

Royal Over-Seas League The Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a not-for-profit members' organisation with international headquarters in its clubhouse in central London, England. Founded by Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1910 as the Over-Seas Club, it was given a Royal Charter ...

br>Competition
and

Geoffrey Parsons (pianist) Geoffrey Penwill Parsons AO OBE (15 June 192926 January 1995) was an Australian pianist, most particularly notable as an accompanist to singers and instrumentalists. After the retirement of Gerald Moore, he was generally considered the world ...

Award. On leaving the Royal Academy his first engagements were with Sir

Thomas Allen (baritone) Sir Thomas Boaz Allen (born 10 September 1944) is an English operatic baritone. He is widely admired in the opera world for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his acting—leading many to regard him as one of the best lyric bari ...

who invited him to tour North America, perform at Wigmore Hall and join him for his 70th Birthday tour of

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...

, and with Dame

Felicity Lott Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano. Education Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...

, with whom he recorded

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

songs. Soon after, the mezzo-soprano Dame

Sarah Connolly Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly (born 13 June 1963) is an English mezzo-soprano. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century ...

invited him to be a regular collaborator and they performed all over the world and recorded together. He held a Junior Fellowship at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

before returning to teach at the RAM and subsequently had the title

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

conferred upon him. He was the first accompanist to win the

Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...

Young Artist Award and to be listed in the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' as one of London's Most Influential People. He is one of the most frequently heard pianists on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

and a regular collaborator on the

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme (also known as the NGA scheme) was launched in 1999 by Adam Gatehouse as part of the BBC's commitment to young musical talent. Each autumn six or seven young artists at the beginning of careers on the n ...

. He holds the post of Musician in Residence at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

and has been admitted as
Bye-Fellow
and is Director of Leeds Lieder. At Pembroke he programmes and plays for the Bliss International Concert Series which attracts the world's finest singers to the city. He founded and directs the Pembroke Lieder Scheme which has trained a generation of leading singers and pianists. Under his watch at Leeds Lieder the Festival has grown from a biennial event to an annual Festival of international standing complemented by an associated concert season and touring programme. It has been nominated for a RPS Award, commissions widely and won the J.M. Barrie Award for its educational work in Leeds schools. His predecessors as artistic directors at Leeds Lieder include Graham Johnson, Julius Drake, Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles and Iain Burnside. Best known for accompanying singers and for his programming flair he has partnered with Sir

, Louise Alder, Mary Bevan,

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

Allan Clayton Allan James Clayton (1981) is a British tenor singer. Clayton was a chorister at Worcester Cathedral and a choral scholar in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2007-09 and winner of the Royal Ph ...

, Dame

Lucy Crowe Lucy Crowe is an English soprano in opera and concert. She has performed at international opera houses and music festivals such as the Glyndebourne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival. Career Born in Staffordshire, England, Crowe studied v ...

Iestyn Davies Iestyn Davies (born 16 September 1979) is a British classical countertenor. Education and background Davies was born in York, England and first studied piano and recorder, mentored in his early years by his father Ioan, the founding cellist ...

, Fatma Said, Wolfgang Holzmair,

Christiane Karg Christiane Karg (born 6 August 1980) is a German operatic soprano. The award-winning singer became known for performing Mozart roles at the Salzburg Festival, and made an international career. Career Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, Karg studied ...

Katarina Karnéus Katarina Esmé Marie Karnéus (born 26 November 1965) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer, winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, active on many of the opera world's major stages such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Pa ...

Angelika Kirchschlager Angelika Kirchschlager (born 24 November 1965, Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. Career Kirchschlager began her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she w ...

, Dame

Christopher Maltman Christopher Maltman (born 6 February 1970) is a British operatic baritone. Christopher Maltman was born in Cleethorpes and was educated at Warwick University where he received a degree in Biochemistry and subsequently studied music at the Royal A ...

John Mark Ainsley John Mark Ainsley (born 9 July 1963) is an English lyric tenor. Known for his supple voice, Ainsley is particularly admired for his interpretations of baroque music and the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the course of his career, he has g ...

Ann Murray Ann Murray, (born 27 August 1949) is an Irish mezzo-soprano. Life and career Murray was born in Dublin. Having won a number of prizes at the Feis Ceoil, she studied singing at the College of Music (now the DIT Conservatory of Music and Dram ...

DBE,

Mark Padmore Mark Padmore (born 8 March 1961) is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral ...

, Miah Persson,

Amanda Roocroft Amanda Jane Roocroft (born 9 February 1966) is an English operatic soprano, who in the course of her career has sung leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. She is also a voice professor at London's Royal College of Music ...

Kate Royal Kate Royal (born 1979) is an English lyric soprano. She is the daughter of Steve Royal, a singer and songwriter for television, and of Carolyn Royal, a former model and dancer. Royal was born in London and attended Talbot Heath School in Bour ...

, Matthew Rose (bass), Carolyn Sampson, Nicky Spence and

Roderick Williams Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE (born 1965) is a British baritone and composer. Biography Williams was born in North London to a Welsh father and a Jamaican mother. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School in Oxford and Haberdashers' ...

. He has played in music centres across the world, including: London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

and

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, New York's

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

and

Park Avenue Armory __NOTOC__ The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The inst ...

, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Zürich Tonhalle,

Kölner Philharmonie The Kölner Philharmonie is a symphonic concert hall located in Cologne, Germany. It is part of the building assemble of the Museum Ludwig and was opened in 1986. The Kölner Philharmonie is located close to the Cologne Cathedral and the Cologn ...

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

Philharmonie Luxembourg The Philharmonie Luxembourg, also known officially as the Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall (french: Salle de concerts grande-duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte, german: Konzertsaal Großherzogin Joséphine-Charlotte), is a concert hal ...

, Musée d’Orsay Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Palau de la Musica, Oji Hall Tokyo and Festivals in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

, Barcelona, Baden Baden,

Schloss Elmau Schloss Elmau is a four-story castle and national monument with hipped roof, tower and porch, situated between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald in a sanctuary of the Bavarian Alps, Germany. It lies at the foot of the Wetterstein mountai ...

, deSingel,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Munich, Ravinia,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Seoul, Stuttgart,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and Vancouver. He made his

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

debut in 2016 alongside Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson and returned in 2018 alongside Dame Sarah Connolly where they premiered recently discovered songs by Benjamin Britten and launched their recital CD for Chandos He has a critically acclaimed, fast-growing and award-winning discography which has resulted in an

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...

with Carolyn Sampson and numerous nominations for Gramophone and

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. History The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toget ...

Awards. His recordings on

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''harm ...

, Chandos, BIS, Signum and Champs Hill Records with Dame Sarah Connolly, Carolyn Sampson, Iestyn Davies, Ruby Hughes, Amanda Roocroft, Louise Alder, Mary Bevan, Christopher Maltman have been selected as Disc of the Year in: The Sunday Times; American Record Guide;

International Classical Music Awards The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

and on Radio France. His interest in the furthering of the song repertoire has led Gramophone Magazine to describe him as 'the absolute king of programming'.

Personal life

Middleton lives near London with his wife and two children. He has a younger sister.

Select discography

* ''Lines written during a sleepless night:'' with Louise Alder (Chandos 2020) * ''The Contrast, English Poetry in Song:'' with Carolyn Sampson (BIS 2020) * ''The Divine Muse:'' with Mary Bevan (Signum 2020) * ''The Soldier:'' with

(Signum 2019) * ''Reason in Madness:'' with Carolyn Sampson (BIS 2019) * ''Come into my Dreams:'' with Dame

(Signum 2018) * ''A Soprano's Schubertiade:'' with Carolyn Sampson (BIS 2018) * ''Voyages:'' with Mary Bevan (Signum 2017) * ''Debussy and Mozart Songs:'' with

, Nicky Spence,

Ashley Riches Ashley Riches is a British operatic baritone. Riches studied at Winchester College and King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in English and sang in King's College Choir under Stephen Cleobury. He continued his studies at the Guildhall S ...

( BBC Music Magazine Cover CD 2017) * ''Lost is my Quiet:'' with Carolyn Sampson and

(BIS 2017) * ''Strauss Lieder:'' with Louise Alder (Orchid Classics 2017) * ''A Verlaine Songbook:'' with Carolyn Sampson (BIS 2016) * ''Songs to the Moons:'' with

et al. (Signum 2016) * ''Nocturnal Variations:'' with Ruby Hughes (CHR 2016) * ''Songs by Purcell realized by Britten:'' with Ruby Hughes, Anna Grevelius,

Robin Blaze Robin Blaze (born 1971 in Manchester) is an English countertenor. Early life The son of Peter Blaze, a professional golfer, and Christine, Blaze and his brother Mark grew up in Shadwell, near Leeds, and was educated at Leeds Grammar School, ...

, Benedict Nelson, Matthew Rose (CHR 2016) * ''Fleurs:'' with Carolyn Sampson (BIS 2015) * ''This Other Eden:'' with Kitty Whately (CHR 2015) * ''Love said to me:'' with Caroline MacPhie (Stone Records 2014) * ''Cheryl Frances-Hoad Songs:'' with Jennifer Johnston (CHR 2014) * ''Ludwig Thuille Lieder:'' with

Sophie Bevan Sophie Anna Magdalena Bevan (born 1983) is a British soprano appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. Early life Bevan was born in London. She graduated from the Benjamin Britten International Opera School where she studied as a Karavioti ...

(CHR 2013) * ''Tell me the truth about love:'' with

(CHR 2013) * ''Elgar Songs:'' with Dame

(CHR 2011) * ''Spanish Songs:'' with Clara Mouriz (Sonimage 2010)

Biography

Personal life

Select discography

References

External links