Ashley Wass is a British classical pianist.
Ashley Wass is a pianist who has performed and recorded many works as soloist, with orchestras and with chamber music groups. Wass first studied at Chethams Music School, and then won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Christopher Elton and Hamish Milne. In 2002, he was made an associate of the Royal Academy of Music, and joined the faculty of the Royal College of Music in 2008.[1] He is also Artistic Director of the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival.[2]
Wass has given performances at many major UK venues, such as Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall, Royal Festival Hall and others, and also performed at a gala concert at Buckingham Palace in 2002 held to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. He has performed with orchestras in many counties, and has performed at the BBC Proms in 2008 and 2009.
As a recording artist, Wass was the first ever exclusive artist signed to the Naxos label, where he has recorded more than two dozen CDs, performing works by British composers Alwyn, Bax, Bridge, Elgar, and Vaughan Williams, as well as Liszt, and Tieck.
Wass is also involved in chamber music, playing with artists such as Sarah Chang, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode and others. He has notably participated at the Marlboro Music Festival.