Paul Lewis (born 20 May 1972) is an English classical pianist.
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 12 May 2003

Early life

Lewis's father worked at the

Liverpool Docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the r ...

and his mother was a local council worker; there were no musicians in his family background. Lewis began by playing the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, the only instrument for which his school could offer him tuition. At the age of 14 he was accepted by

Chetham's School of Music Chetham's School of Music () is an independent co-educational music school in Manchester, England. Chetham's educates students between the ages of 8 and 18, all of whom enter via musical auditions. Students receive a full academic education alon ...

in Manchester, where his piano studies blossomed. His teachers included

Ryszard Bakst Ryszard Bakst (4 April 1926 – 25 March 1999) was a Polish pianist and distinguished piano teacher. Background Bakst was a descendant of the Russian artist Léon Bakst. His teachers were initially his mother and pianist Józef Turczyńsk ...

(at Chetham's), Joan Havill (at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

) and

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ''G ...

, whom Lewis acknowledges as a mentor. His first international achievement was the second prize at the 1994 World Piano Competition in London."Paul Lewis"
at ''

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 ''ha ...

'' He also won the Dudley Piano Competition and the Royal Overseas League Piano Competition.

Career

Lewis is strongly affiliated with 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 ...

, London."Paul Lewis"
a bio from Ingpen & Williams Lewis performed all 32 of the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

piano sonatas Piano sonatas may refer to: * Piano sonatas (Beethoven) * Piano sonatas (Boulez) Pierre Boulez composed three piano sonatas: the First Piano Sonata in 1946, the Second Piano Sonata in 1947–48, and the Third Piano Sonata in 1955–57 with further ...

, on tour in the United States and Europe, between the 2005 and 2007 seasons, in parallel with his complete recording of the cycle for

. Each of these CD releases has been included in '' Gramophone'' magazine's "Editor's Choice", and in August 2008, volume 4 of the series was awarded ''Gramophones "Best Instrumental" recording and "Best Recording of the Year". In July and August 2010 Lewis became the first pianist to perform all five Beethoven Concertos in a single season of The BBC Proms. In 2015 he succeeded Fanny Waterman as artistic director of the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess ...

, jointly with conductor Adam Gatehouse. He also chaired the competition's jury. Lewis was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE), in the 2016 Birthday Honours, for services to music. In 2021, Paul Lewis became an Irish citizen.

Reviews

Writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'',

Geoffrey Norris Geoffrey Norris (born 1947) is an English musicologist and music critic. His scholarship focuses on Russian composers; in particularly, Norris is a leading scholar on the life and music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, about whom he has written in nume ...

said, "There is in Lewis's playing a strong physicality, a firm connection between his deep thinking about the music and his articulation of it. He knows and can define its character, and can show how its rhythmic, harmonic and melodic components coalesce. This was playing of intellectual rigour and imaginative vigour." In a 2016 interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Lewis revealed that his musical guilty pleasure was the 1968 single "Paralyzed" by the

Legendary Stardust Cowboy Norman Carl Odam (born September 5, 1947, in Lubbock, Texas), known professionally as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, is an outsider performer who is considered one of the pioneers of the genre that came to be known as psychobilly in the 1960s. ...

Discography

: **

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: Piano Sonata No. 19 in C minor, D. 958, Piano Sonata No. 14 in A minor ("Grande Sonate"), D. 784 (Op. posth. 143) (2002) CD

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She beg ...

B00005QG1F **Schubert. Last Sonatas D.959 & D.960, (2003) CD (HMC901800) ASIN B00008O6EO **

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

: Sonata in B minor (2004) CD (HMC901845) ASIN B0002I746S **

: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol.1 (2005) CD (HMC901902)

B000A5B25W **Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol.2 (2007) CD (HMC901903.05, 3 CDs) ASIN B000HXDS04 **Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol.3 (2007) CD (HMC901906.08, 3 CDs) **Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas, Vol.4 (2008) CD (HMC901909.11, 3 CDs) **Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Jiri Belohlavek (2010) (3 CDs) **Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 (2011) CD (HMC902071) **Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin D.795, Mark Padmore – Tenor **Schubert: Winterreise D.911, Mark Padmore – Tenor *

Hyperion Records Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label. History Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time period ...

, with

**Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart.html" "title="Leopold String Trio

**Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart">Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

: Piano Quartet in G minor; Piano Quartet in E flat (2003) ASIN B00008ZZ3E **Schubert: Trout Quintet **Schubert: Piano Duets (with Steven Osborne)

References

External links

Paul Lewis at Harmonia Mundi

Paul Lewis at Maestro Arts

Midsummer Music
– International Chamber Music Festival

*[https://medium.com/classical-music-recordings-reviews/new-album-review-haydn-piano-sonatas-paul-lewis-piano-a4ef71b44bb7 "Haydn - Piano Sonatas" - Review in the Classical Music Records Reviews blog] {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Paul English classical pianists Male classical pianists Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Piano pedagogues Musicians from Liverpool 1972 births Living people People educated at Chetham's School of Music Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Commanders of the Order of the British Empire BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists

Early life

Career

Reviews

Discography

References

Further reading

External links