Benjamin Grosvenor is a classical pianist from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. He is also a vegetarian. He won the piano section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year

BBC Young Musician of the Year

The BBC Young Musician of the Year is a televised national music competition. It is broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Four biennially, despite the name, and hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation...

 2004 competition. In 2010 he joined BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme was devised by BBC Radio 3 Editor Adam Gatehouse and launched in 1999. It exists as part of the BBC's commitment to nurture young musical talent. Every autumn six to seven young artists who are beginning to make a mark on the national and international...

, which he completes in 2012.

Family

Grosvenor is the youngest of five brothers. His father is an English and Drama teacher, and his mother, a piano teacher by profession.

Education

Grosvenor began studying the piano with his mother Rebecca at the age of six. He joined Westcliff High School for Boys

Westcliff High School for Boys

Westcliff High School for Boys is a selective academy grammar school for boys aged 11 to 18 in Westcliff-on-Sea, near Southend-on-Sea, Essex and surrounding areas. In September 2001 the school was awarded "Beacon" status for its breadth of achievements and quality of work...

 in 2003. He now also takes lessons from Christopher Elton

Christopher Elton

Christopher Elton is an English pianist, Head of the Keyboard department of the Royal Academy of Music in London and a professor emeritus of the University of London.-Biography:...

 in London. The Royal Academy of Music

Royal Academy of Music

The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...

 has awarded him a special affiliated scholarship.

Performance career

In May 2003, Grosvenor gave his first full recital at a local church. In the same year, he made his first concerto appearance, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Westcliff Sinfonia.

Since then he has given many high profile recitals in Europe and the United States. Some of the concerts he has played in were at the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

, St George's, Bristol, Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...

, Barbican Centre, Usher Hall

Usher Hall

Usher Hall is a concert hall, situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,900 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its acoustics...

, Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 and Symphony Hall

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue located inside the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by the Queen in June 1991, although had been opened on April 15, 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hosts around 270 events...

.

Grosvenor has performed with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...

, Scottish String Ensemble, New York Youth Symphony

New York Youth Symphony

The New York Youth Symphony is a tuition-free music organization for youth in New York City. Its programs include its flagship symphony orchestra, Chamber Music program, Jazz Band Classic, Apprentice Conducting, and Making Score. Its members range from 12 to 22 years of age...

, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....

, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra

Philharmonia Orchestra

The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...

 and English Chamber Orchestra

English Chamber Orchestra

The English Chamber Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and the ECO Ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall...

 playing works by Mozart, Grieg, Ravel, Britten and Chopin.

On May 20, 2009, Grosvenor made his debut with the Ulster Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Montgomery, at the National Concert Hall Dublin where he played Rachmaninov, Grieg and Ravel.

Awards

At the age of ten, in 2003, he became the youngest ever winner of four competitions- The Southend Young Musician of the Year,The Essex Young Musician of the Year, The Emanuel Trophy and The EPTA Trophy.

Eleven year old Grosvenor was the winner of the keyboard section of the BBC Young musician of the year 2004 award. He played Scarlatti

Scarlatti

Scarlatti was the name of several Italian composers:*Alessandro Scarlatti , Baroque composer known for operas and chamber cantatas*Francesco Scarlatti , Baroque composer and musician, brother of Alessandro Scarlatti...

, Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

, Takemitsu and Chopin- all from memory. The overall winner of this competition was Nicola Benedetti

Nicola Benedetti

- Early life and the Yehudi Menuhin School :Benedetti was born in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire to an Italian father and a Scottish mother. She started to learn the violin at the age of four...

.

Recordings

Grosvenor has recorded CDs featuring various composers. In July 2005, he appeared in a BBC Documentary as part of the Imagine

Imagine (TV series)

Imagine is a wide ranging arts series first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, hosted and executive produced by Alan Yentob. Each series usually consists of 4 to 7 episodes, each on a different topic...

 series.

After a short period under a development agreement with EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

, he signed for Decca in April 2011, the label's first British pianist for over half a century.

External links

• Official website