Ashley Wass, Piano

Biography

The young British pianist, Ashley Wass, is recognized as one of the rising stars of his
generation. Only the second British pianist in 20 years to reach the finals of
the Leeds Piano Competition (in 2000), he was the first British pianist ever to
win the top prize at the World Piano Competition in 1997. He appeared in the
‘Rising Stars’ series at the 2001 Ravinia Festival and his promise has been
further acknowledged by the BBC, who selected him to be a New Generations
Artist over two seasons.

Wass has given recitals at most of the major UK
concert halls including the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Symphony Hall,
Purcell Room, Bridgewater Hall and St David’s Hall. His concerto performances
have included Beethoven and Brahms with the Philharmonia, Mendelssohn with the
Orchestre National de Lille and Mozart with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra at the
Vienna Konzerthaus and the Brucknerhaus in Linz. Wass has also worked with Sir Simon
Rattle and the CBSO, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players.

In recent seasons Wass appeared with the BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He has also recorded the Poulenc
Piano Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Beethoven 3rd Piano Concerto
with the BBC Philharmonic. In June 2002 he appeared in a gala concert at
Buckingham Palace to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a
performance broadcast live to millions of viewers around the world. He opened
the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s 2002/3 season with Beethoven’s First Piano
Concerto under Christopher Seaman and, later in the same season, made his debut
with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Paul Daniel.  Future engagements include a 2007 tour of the
USA and Europe with violinist Sarah Chang.

Ashley Wass studied at Chethams Music School and won a scholarship to the Royal
Academy of Music. In 2002 he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy. He
spent three summers as a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, playing
chamber music with musicians such as Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode and members
of the Guarneri Quartet and Beaux Arts Trio.

Ashley
Wass’s recording of the Beethoven 3rd Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic was
issued as a BBC Music Magazine cover CD and he also recorded Chopin for an EMI
disc. He made his debut recording in 1999 with a solo recital disc of works by
César Franck for Naxos. The first two installments of a three-part series
covering the piano music of Arnold Bax for Naxos have been released recently to
exceptional reviews.  Future recording
plans with Naxos include the complete solo works of Elgar, Britten, Bridge,
Leighton and Alwyn, Liszt's 'Album d'un Voyager', and the arrangement
for two pianos of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (with Leon McCawley), the Violin
Sonatas of Bax (with Laurence Jackson), and concertos by Bax and Leighton.