Margaret Fingerhut
Margaret Fingerhut is regarded as one of the most poetic pianists of her generation who has captivated audiences in many different countries with her imaginatively designed recital programmes, “A World of Piano Themes”. In these programmes she explores the highways and byways of the piano repertoire, personally introducing the music to the audience from the keyboard. As a concerto soloist she has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players, in major venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican. She is often heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and many radio stations worldwide. Her film and television appearances include a role in “Testimony”, Tony Palmer's film about Shostakovich.


A Chandos artist, Margaret's extensive and eclectic discography has received worldwide critical acclaim. Her numerous discs reflect her long-standing fascination with exploring lesser-known repertoire, and include works by Bax, Berkeley, Bloch, Dukas, Falla, Grieg, Howells, Leighton, Novak, Stanford and Suk as well as pioneering collections of Russian and French music. Many have been selected as the Gramophone's Critics' Choice, and two of her Bax recordings - the Octet with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble and the Concertante for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra with Vernon Handley and the BBC Philharmonic - were short-listed for Gramophone awards. Her recent disc of solo piano music by the Polish/French composer Alexandre Tansman received the accolade of "Diapason D'Or" in France. She was also the soloist in the world première recording of Percy Young's arrangement of Elgar's sketches for his Piano Concerto slow movement, with the Munich Symphony Orchestra conducted by Douglas Bostock.


Margaret taught piano at the Royal Northern College of Music for a number of years and she is currently a Visiting Tutor at the Birmingham Conservatoire. Summer schools include Chetham's International Summer Achool for Pianists and Dartington International Summer School where her teaching was described by The Spectator magazine as demonstrating "enormous skill and sympathy". She has given masterclasses in the USA, Canada and China and has also been on the jury for many competitions, including the BBC Musician of the Year.. In addition to her performing and teaching, Margaret has written articles for magazines such as Classical Music, Pianist and Piano Professional.