Paul Lewis’ Highlights

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Alfred Brendel, Artist Profiles, Joan Havill, Paul Lewis, Ryszard Bakst

  • 1972: Born in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
  • 1985: After spending some time playing the cello, he took up the piano at 12.
  • 1987: Admitted to Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester under Ryszard Bakst.
  • 1990: Moved to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, studying with Joan Havill.
  • 1993: Became a student of Alfred Brendel.
  • 1994: First international achievement by winning the second prize at the World Piano Competition in London.
  • 1998: 1st BBC Prom; Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder. Named Steinway Artist.
  • 2000: 2nd BBC Prom; chamber music program with Steven Osborne. He started teaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London for two years.
  • 2001: He and the Leopold String Trio were selected by Wigmore Hall for the European Concert Halls Organization’s “Rising Stars” program.
  • 2002: 3rd BBC Prom; Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Paul Daniel. His first album on Harmonia Mundi, Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 19 & 14 (2001), won the Diapason d’Or de l’Année.
  • 2003: 4th BBC Prom; Britten’s Young Apollo (Proms premiere); Britten Sinfonia / Nicholas Cleobury. His Schubert Sonata series won him the South Bank Show Classical Music Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year Award.
  • 2004: 5th BBC Prom; Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Andrew Davis. His album Franz Schubert: Les Dernières Sonates, The Last Sonatas D.959 & 960 (Harmonia Mundi, 2003) won an Edison Classical Music Award in the Instrumental Solo Recital category.
  • 2005: 6th BBC Prom — Last Night; Lambert’s The Rio Grande; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Paul Daniel. His album Franz Liszt: Sonata in B Minor (Harmonia Mundi, 2004) won an Edison Classical Music Award in the Instrumental Solo Recital category.
  • 2006: 7th BBC Prom; Mozart Concerto in E-flat major for two pianos; with Till Fellner and BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Richard Hickox. He received the 25th Accademia Musicale Chigiana International Award in Italy.
  • 2008: 8th BBC Prom; Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko. Volume 4 of his Beethoven Piano Sonatas series (recorded during his tours in the USA and Europe between 2005 and 2007 on the Harmonia Mundi label) won a Gramophone Classical Music Award in the Instrumental category and was elected Recording of the Year.
  • 2009: Honorary Doctorate by the Southampton University. Along with his wife, cellist Bjørg Lewis, he founded the Midsummer Music — an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom.
  • 2010: Became the first pianist in the history of the BBC Proms to perform live all of Beethoven’s piano concertos in a single season: Nos. 1 & 4 (BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek), No. 2 (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons), No. 3 (The Hallé / Sir Mark Elder), and No. 5 (Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Stéphane Denève). His album Franz Schubert: Winterreise (Harmonia Mundi, 2009), with tenor Mark Padmore, won a Gramophone Classical Music Award in the Solo Vocal category. Also, his triple CD Beethoven — Complete Piano Concertos (Harmonia Mundi) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek won a Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics’ Award) in the Orchestral Music and Concertos category.
  • 2013: 13th BBC Prom; Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25; Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Daniel Harding. 14th BBC Prom; Schubert’s piano sonatas D.958 & 812 “Grand Duo” with Imogen Cooper.
  • 2015: Appointed Artistic Director of the Leeds International Piano Competition.
  • 2016: 15th BBC Prom; chamber music program with the Vertavo Quartet. Honorary Doctorate by the Edge Hill University. Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
  • 2018: 16th BBC Prom; Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor”; BBC Philharmonic / Ben Gernon. The record label he works with, Harmonia Mundi, won a Gramophone Classical Music Award in the Label of the Year category, highlighting his freshly released album Joseph Haydn — Piano Sonatas (first volume, including Hob:XVI Nos. 32, 40, 49 and 50). Honorary Doctorate by the Liverpool University.
  • 2021: September release of the second volume of Joseph Haydn — Piano Sonatas (Harmonia Mundi), including Hob:XVI Nos. 20, 34, 51 and 52.

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