Maria Marchant ‘…a piano recital of pure joy….wonderfully expressive….today’s recitalist was conqueror.’ Lynn News British pianist Maria Marchant gave her Wigmore Hall and Southbank debuts in 2010 to critical acclaim after being selected as a young artist on the Concordia Foundation, Park Lane Group and Tillett Trust schemes. Since then, she has been much in demand as recitalist and has performed in numerous festivals such as the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Cheltenham International Music Festival, ‘John Ireland in Chelsea’ Festival, King’s Lynn Festival, the Proms Plus Series, Steyning Festival and Stratfordupon-Avon Festival. She has also given recitals for many music societies including the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe, Bishop Auckland Music Society, City Music Society, Darlington Piano Society and the Harris Music Club. Maria is delighted to be pianist-in-residence at the Shipley Arts Festival. A passionate advocate of British music, Maria chose to make her Wigmore debut performing a programme entitled ‘The English Fantasy’. She regularly features works by Bliss, Britten, John Ireland and Ronald Stevenson in recital programmes and many of her concerts are sponsored by the John Ireland Trust. As a concerto soloist, Maria also has wide experience and has performed concerti in venues such as the Duke’s Hall, RAM, St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, St. James’s Piccadilly and St John’s Smith Square. Maria’s concerto repertoire includes concerti by Bach, Beethoven, Finzi, Gershwin, Grieg, Ireland, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Ravel and she often records for Radio 3, most recently in the John McCabe Memorial Concert at Southbank. Maria has performed in many venues such as the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall (RCM), Arundel and Auckland Castles, Blackheath Concert Halls, Blüthner Piano Centre, Britten Theatre (RCM), Cadogan Hall, Champs Hill, Cheltenham Town Hall, Draper’s Hall, Duke’s Hall (RAM), Fairfield Halls (Croydon), Kensington Palace, Konzerthaus (Berlin), National Gallery, Purcell Room (Southbank Centre), the Ritz, Royal Opera House, Somerset House, Steinway Hall, St. David’s Hall (Cardiff), St. James’s Piccadilly, St. John’s Smith Square, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Wigmore Hall. Chamber music performance highlights include recitals as a member of the Stradivarius Trio at the Shipley Arts Festival and a performance with acclaimed baritone Roderick Williams. Maria was awarded First Prize and Gold Medal in the International Hindemith Competition in 2008 whilst studying for her MMus in Advanced Piano Performance at the Royal College of Music as one of four recipients of the BBC Performing Arts Fund Education Bursary. She was also awarded the RCM Hilda Anderson Deane Scholarship and was selected as one of RCM’s ‘Rising Stars’. Maria’s awards at Trinity Laban Conservatoire where she gained a First Class Honours BMus include the Silver Medal for Piano Performance, Eric Falk Trust (Concerto Playing), John Halford (Contemporary Music), John Ireland, Alfred Kitchin (Chopin) and the John Longmire (Beethoven). She has studied with many professors including Alexander Ardakov, Philip Colman, Niel Immelman and Yonty Solomon. Upcoming engagements include a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto K414 No. 12 in A with the Bernardi Chamber Ensemble, a return appearance at the Steyning Festival and recitals for the Arthur Bliss Society, Clitheroe Concerts Society and Worcester Concert Club. www.mariamarchant.com