Matthew Schellhorn
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Matthew Schellhorn (born February, 1977 in Yorkshire) is a British pianist.
Selected as a 'Talent to Watch' for 2007 by BBC Music Magazine, and described as 'a rising star' (BBC Radio 3) and 'one of Britain's most exciting young pianists' (Classic FM), Matthew Schellhorn has a growing international career, which in recent seasons has seen recitals in Europe, Ireland and North America. Forthcoming highlights include appearances in Scotland, and a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Education
Schellhorn studied at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where his teachers included David Hartigan, Maria Curcio, and Ryszard Bakst. He later read Music at the University of Cambridge, and while there, he studied with Peter Hill. Later, he studied privately in Paris with Yvonne Loriod.
[edit] Career highlights
Schellhorn has been guest soloist at several international festivals, including the Three Choirs Festival, the Windsor Festival, the Hertford Music Festival, the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts, the Messiaen International Conference, and the Britten Sinfonia–BBC Radio 3 'Tippett 2005' festival in Cambridge. He has given solo recitals in many major venues throughout the UK, including the Purcell Room and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, the Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham, the Djanogly Recital Hall in Nottingham, the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall in York, the Huntingdon Hall in Worcester, West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge, the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building in Oxford, and the De Montfort Hall in Leicester. He has given live solo performances on BBC Radio 3, and in 2005 he was featured on Classic FM's The Guest List. In 2006, he made debut appearance at the South Bank Centre in London as part of the prestigious 'Fresh' series.
Recent concerto performances have included appearances with the London Mozart Players (St John's, Smith Square, London), sinfonia ViVA (The Assembly Rooms, Derby), and Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra (West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge). He has worked with numerous conductors, including Jane Glover, Peter Stark, David Hill and Andrew Fardell. The past few seasons have also seen chamber performances with pianist Peter Hill, soprano Lynette Alcántara, flautists Kathryn Thomas and Louisa Dennehy, clarinettists Peter Sparks and Catriona Scott, bassoonist Shelly Organ, cellists Gemma Rosefield and Rosie Biss, and the Fitzwilliam Quartet.
[edit] New music
Several leading composers have written works for Schellhorn, including Jeremy Thurlow (The Will of the Tones) and Tim Watts (Two Scherzos). Composers with whom he has worked include Hugh Wood, Prof. Robin Holloway, Alexander Goehr, James Francis Brown, John Hawkins, Jeremy Thurlow, Jane O'Leary, Adrian Williams, Lloyd Moore, Gabriel Jackson, and Cecilia McDowall.
In recent years he has become particularly interested in the music of Irish composer, Ian Wilson. Premieres include: the UK premiere of "Lim" (in 2005); the UK premiere of "Verschwindend" (in 2006); and the world premiere of "Limena" (in 2006) with the Carducci Quartet.
[edit] Messiaen
Schellhorn's performances of the piano music of Olivier Messiaen have been met with superlative critical approval.
Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen—the acclaimed interpreter and dedicatee of Messiaen's piano music—has described Schellhorn as 'an excellent pianist and an excellent exponent', and has praised his playing as 'in every way wonderful': 'Accuracy, rhythm, sonority, technique, emotion. ... Everything is played as Messiaen wished it.'
In 2002 he was invited to perform at the Messiaen International Conference, where Christopher Dingle of BBC Music Magazine described one solo recital as 'a cherished memory for those privileged enough to experience it'.
2006 saw a critically-acclaimed solo recital in the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, featuring Messiaen's piano works based on birdsong (including pieces from "Catalogue d'oiseaux" and "La Fauvette des jardins".
