17-20 September

CityMusic Live, a new online concert platform, announces its 2020 Piano Fest

Over four days, pianists Warren Mailley-Smith, Yuki Negishi, Daniel Grimwood, Duncan Honeybourne, and Julian Jacobson will present concerts online in a celebration of the piano.

The extended weekend of concerts begins on Thursday, 17 September with Warren Mailley-Smith in a programme featuring works by Beethoven, Brahms and Ravel.

Piano Fest continues on Friday 18 September with Duncan Honeybourne’s programme Forest Idylls featuring enchanting, evocative works by Sibelius, MacDowell and Schumann echoing nature. Known for his technical precision and warm musicality, Duncan Honeybourne has been lauded as “heroic” by Musical Opinion and “a gifted pianist in whom a spirit of adventure meets high musicianship” by MusicWeb International.

Saturday 19 September features two concerts. At 6:00 PM, Daniel Grimwood presents Nocturnes and Variations featuring one of his own compositions, “Variations on a Theme by Field”. Daniel Grimwood’s playing has been characterised as “stimulating and revelatory in equal measure” by The Telegraph, and his programme promises to exhibit both his virtuosity and his intellectual sensibility. Following at 8:00 PM, Yuki Negishi performs a concert entitled Passion, featuring works by Franck, Chopin and Beethoven. Praised for her “Piano Music by Women” series in June and July, Yuki Negishi was chosen in the Top 5 online performances for the week of 29 June by Pianist Magazine.

The weekend continues on Sunday with a matinee performance which celebrates The Piano Sonata by renowned pianist and Royal College of Music professor, Julian Jacobson. The programme features sonatas by Scarlatti, Berg and Beethoven. The weekend comes to a close on Sunday evening with Warren Mailley-Smith’s celebration of Chopin, a composer very close to his heart – he was the first British pianist to perform Chopin’s complete works for solo piano from memory in a series of 11 recitals at St John’s Smith Square in 2016.

Single tickets and festival packages are available. Book tickets