Duncan Honeybourne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
 |
The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(October 2007) |
| Duncan Honeybourne | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Duncan Honeybourne |
| Born | England |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, Teacher, Lecturer |
| Years active | fl. 1990- |
Duncan Honeybourne (born 27 October 1977) is an English pianist, teacher and lecturer.
Honeybourne began his studies at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department, where he won the senior piano prize. He gave his first London recital at the age of fifteen and toured extensively throughout Britain as solo recitalist and concerto soloist. Awarded a place to continue at the RAM, he chose instead to move to the Birmingham Conservatoire where he graduated in 2000 with a B.Mus First Class Honours degree and won many prizes. In February 2007 he received the honorary award of HonBC from the Conservatoire for his distinguished contribution to the music profession. His teachers included Rosemarie Wright and Philip Martin, and his further piano studies were in London with John York, Leeds with Fanny Waterman, and subsequently for three years on a Goldenweiser Scholarship in London with the Russian pianist Mikhail Kazakevich.
Duncan Honeybourne made his debut as soloist at Symphony Hall Birmingham and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, in November 1998. Since then he has developed an active and varied career throughout the UK and Ireland as soloist, lecture recitalist, chamber musician and teacher. He has given solo recitals at major venues in London, Birmingham, Dublin, Cork and most of the principal British and Irish cities, has broadcast as a solo pianist on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ (Irish) Radio FM3 and has appeared on BBC and RTÉ Television. He has appeared as solo recitalist at the Three Choirs and other British festivals and has toured extensively to numerous music clubs and arts societies throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Éire. His concerto performances have included works by Brahms (Piano Concerto no.2), Rachmaninov (Concertos 2 & 3), the Schumann Piano Concerto (including at Birmingham’s CBSO Centre in 2001), Grieg, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (1,3 and 5), Franck, Hindemith, Shostakovich and Finzi. He has achieved particular renown as an interpreter of British piano music and has given premieres of new works dedicated to him by several leading composers, including the Piano Sonata no.3 by John Joubert and the Piano Sonata no.2 by Andrew Downes. In March 2009 he will make his debut at the newly-refurbished Birmingham Town Hall as soloist in the world premiere of Andrew Downes' Piano Concerto.
Duncan Honeybourne has devoted much of his career to teaching and is a Piano Tutor and Coach/Accompanist at Bryanston School in Dorset, where he has been a visiting staff member since January 2003. Since September 2005 he has also been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chichester, where he has devised and given two seven-recital series, "Masterworks of Piano Music" and "Piano Plus", on the historic Steinway Model D piano in the University's Chapel of the Ascension. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts and, as an occasional writer on music, has written articles and obituaries for The Times, The Birmingham Post, the Cardiff Western Mail and other journals. He has devised and written several words and music programmes, including Dearest Tania, a portrait of the legendary pianist and society figure Harriet Cohen, which he has presented with actresses Louisa Clein and Joanna David.
"Piano Music from the Midlands", a 2-CD issue recorded live in recital in Birmingham and featuring works by Havergal Brian, Christopher Edmunds, Richard Francis, Edward Bache, Ruth Byrchmore, Andrew Downes and John Joubert, is due for release in 2008. Recitals given on the historic Steinway piano at the University of Chichester and featuring a wide range of standard and rare repertoire, have previously been released on the University's CD label under the titles "Masterworks of Piano Music" and "Piano Plus".
