Benjamin Frith is a British

classical Classical may refer to: European antiquity *Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea *Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek and ...

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, j ...

. He was born in South Yorkshire, England, on 11 October 1957. He began taking piano lessons with Fanny Waterman at age ten. He was encouraged by Waterman to pursue a career after winning the Dudley National Piano Competition in 1972, at age 14. Following Frith's Dudley win, Peter Pears asked him to play at the Aldeburgh Festival. He was educated at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and graduated with a BA in Music in 1979. Subsequently, he studied under

Fanny Waterman Dame Fanny Waterman (22 March 192020 December 2020) was a British pianist and academic piano teacher, who is particularly known as the founder, chair and artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She was also president of ...

and won several awards early in his career, including the Gold Medal at the 1989

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist.

Piano Competition in Israel. He has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras including the Berlin Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Polish National Radio, and the BBC Philharmonic. He has worked with many leading conductors such as

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

Antoni Wit Antoni Wit (born February 7, 1944) is a Polish conductor, composer, lawyer and professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Between 2002 and 2013, he served as the artistic director of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. Life and career ...

, Vasary, Skrowaczewski, Bamert, Atzman and

Barry Wordsworth Barry Wordsworth (born 20 February 1948, Worcester Park, Surrey, U.K.) is a British conductor. Wordsworth is Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Ballet and has had a long relationship with company. He was first appointed as Assistant Condu ...

. His repertoire ranges from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Tippett Tippett is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andre Tippett (born 1959), American Hall of Fame footballer *Clark Tippet (1954–1992), American dancer *Dave Tippett (born 1961), ice hockey coach * Keith Tippett (born 1947), Eng ...

and includes over 50 concertos. He has recorded all the

John Field John Field may refer to: *John Field (American football) (1886–1979), American football player and coach *John Field (brigadier) (1899–1974), Australian Army officer *John Field (composer) (1782–1837), Irish composer *John Field (dancer) (192 ...

piano concertos (during 2002, numbers 5 & 6 reached the top of the classical charts) and since then has recorded all of Field’s nocturnes for solo piano. His disc of

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

’s ''

Davidsbündlertänze ''Davidsbündlertänze'' (''Dances of the League of David''), Op. 6, is a group of eighteen pieces for piano composed in 1837 by Robert Schumann, who named them after his music society Davidsbündler. The low opus number is misleading: the work ...

'' was chosen as the top recommendation on the Radio 3 “Building a Library” programme. Five of his discs are represented in the Gramophone – Best CD Guide and in response to his recording 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 classic ...

Diabelli Variations The ''33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli'', Op. 120, commonly known as the ''Diabelli Variations'', is a set of variations for the piano written between 1819 and 1823 by Ludwig van Beethoven on a waltz composed by Anton Diabelli. It for ...

'', Gramophone critic Richard Osborne wrote, “he possesses a formidable talent both musically and technically. Indeed, I would go as far as to suggest that there has not been a finer Diabelli on record by a young pianist since the classic recording by the twenty eight year old Stephen Kovacevich in 1968”. A recent recording of a selection of Scarlatti Sonatas was described in the BBC Music Magazine as follows: “Benjamin Frith is an inspired choice for the fifth disc of the Naxos cycle; a compelling advocate of the piano, he transports the music to the new medium, capitalising on the piano’s ability to pick out a strand, shape dynamics and bathe textures in subtle pedalling, without ever misrepresenting Scarlatti – a disc to convert the most die-hard authenticist”. He is a member of the Gould Piano Trio and is a tutor at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music educatio ...

in Manchester.

References

External links

Artist biography at Naxos
1957 births British classical pianists Male classical pianists Living people People from South Yorkshire Prize-winners of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition 21st-century classical pianists Musicians from Yorkshire 21st-century British male musicians {{UK-classical-pianist-stub