Biography
Now "firmly back in the limelight" [Financial Times] Christian Blackshaw is recognised for the passion, range and sensitivity he brings to his extensive repertoire. His playing combines tremendous emotional depth with great understanding and, in the words of one London critic, "sheer musicality and humanity."
Pianist magazine, reviewing his performance of Schubert's great B Flat Sonata D. 960, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall wrote that the work "has become the calling-card of many a pianist wishing to declare themselves a musician's musician and Blackshaw most certainly belongs to this category."
Following studies with Gordon Green at the Royal College Manchester and Royal Academy, London and winning the gold medals at each, he was the first British pianist to study at the Leningrad Conservatoire with Moisei Halfin. He later worked closely with Sir Clifford Curzon in London.
Christian Blackshaw has performed with many leading orchestras including London Philharmonic, Hallé, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Academy of St-Martin-in-the Fields, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Rotterdam Philharmonic and RAI Torino. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Gianandrea Noseda, Yuri Temirkanov and Sir Neville Marriner.
He has given chamber concerts in London with the principals of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe and festival engagements have taken him to Stars of the White Nights St. Petersburg, Prague, Dubrovnik, Helsinki, Stresa, Britain in Greece Festival Athens, Bath, Snape and BBC Proms.
In 2009/10 he completed the Mozart Sonata cycle at St. George’s Bristol, BBC Music Magazine writing of his final concert that it was “one of the finest Mozart recitals I’ve heard in years.” He made a welcome return to the Wigmore Hall for their 110th Anniversary Season to great public and critical acclaim and presents the Mozart Sonata series at the Wigmore during 2011/12.
He made his remarkable Berliner Philharmoniker debut in November 2011, "serving every note with nobility" as one critic stated. Other highlights this season include Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Neeme Yarvi, a return to the South Bank International Piano Series and a first appearance in Tokyo.
Pianist magazine, reviewing his performance of Schubert's great B Flat Sonata D. 960, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall wrote that the work "has become the calling-card of many a pianist wishing to declare themselves a musician's musician and Blackshaw most certainly belongs to this category."
Following studies with Gordon Green at the Royal College Manchester and Royal Academy, London and winning the gold medals at each, he was the first British pianist to study at the Leningrad Conservatoire with Moisei Halfin. He later worked closely with Sir Clifford Curzon in London.
Christian Blackshaw has performed with many leading orchestras including London Philharmonic, Hallé, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Academy of St-Martin-in-the Fields, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Rotterdam Philharmonic and RAI Torino. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Gianandrea Noseda, Yuri Temirkanov and Sir Neville Marriner.
He has given chamber concerts in London with the principals of the London Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe and festival engagements have taken him to Stars of the White Nights St. Petersburg, Prague, Dubrovnik, Helsinki, Stresa, Britain in Greece Festival Athens, Bath, Snape and BBC Proms.
In 2009/10 he completed the Mozart Sonata cycle at St. George’s Bristol, BBC Music Magazine writing of his final concert that it was “one of the finest Mozart recitals I’ve heard in years.” He made a welcome return to the Wigmore Hall for their 110th Anniversary Season to great public and critical acclaim and presents the Mozart Sonata series at the Wigmore during 2011/12.
He made his remarkable Berliner Philharmoniker debut in November 2011, "serving every note with nobility" as one critic stated. Other highlights this season include Royal Scottish National Orchestra with Neeme Yarvi, a return to the South Bank International Piano Series and a first appearance in Tokyo.