Maria Marchant
British pianist Maria Marchant is active as recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician and gave her Wigmore Hall and Southbank debuts to critical acclaim. She has performed in many festivals including the Burford Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Cheltenham International Music Festival, ‘John Ireland in Chelsea’ Festival, King’s Lynn Festival, Proms Plus and Stratford-upon-Avon Festival. Maria has also performed for numerous music societies and at many leading venues in the UK and elsewhere. A passionate advocate of British music, Maria performs frequently for the John Ireland Trust and regularly features works by Bliss, Britten, Holst, Ireland and Roderick Williams in her concerts. Maria is delighted to be pianist-in-residence at the Shipley Arts Festival and many of her live performances have been broadcast on Radio 3, most recently her performances of Britten, Ireland and Roderick Williams’ piano works in the Radio 3 In Tune studio with Sean Rafferty.

Chamber music highlights include playing as a member of the Stradivarius Piano Trio and working with LPO co-principal clarinettist, Thomas Watmough, at the Shipley Arts Festival. She frequently performs contemporary music and gave the world premiere of ‘Goodwood by the Sea’ – a new solo piano work by Roderick Williams written for her and commissioned by the Shipley Arts Festival.

Her many competition successes include First Prize and Gold Medal in the International Hindemith Competition whilst studying for the MMus in Advanced Piano Performance at the Royal College of Music supported by the BBC Performing Arts Fund. She was also awarded the RCM Hilda Anderson Deane Scholarship and was selected as one of RCM’s ‘Rising Stars’ in addition to being a Concordia Foundation, Park Lane Group and Tillett Trust young artist. Maria gained First Class Honours for the BMus and the Silver Medal for Piano Performance at Trinity Laban and has studied with many professors including Alexander Ardakov, Philip Colman, Niel Immelman and Yonty Solomon.

Maria believes in the significant role of music in health care and is honoured to be resident pianist at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital as an ambassador for the Concordia Foundation.