Duncan Honeybourne
Encyclopedia
Duncan Honeybourne is an English pianist, teacher and lecturer.
Honeybourne began his studies at the Royal Academy of Music
Junior Department, where he won the senior piano prize. He gave his first London recital at the age of fifteen and toured extensively throughout Britain as solo recitalist and concerto soloist. Awarded a place to continue at the RAM, he chose instead to move to the Birmingham Conservatoire where he graduated in 2000 with a B.Mus First Class Honours degree and won many prizes. In February 2007 he received the honorary award of HonBC from the Conservatoire for his distinguished contribution to the music profession. His teachers included Rosemarie Wright
and Philip Martin, and his further piano studies were in London with John York, Leeds with Fanny Waterman
, and subsequently for three years on a Goldenweiser Scholarship in London with the Russian pianist Mikhail Kazakevich.
Duncan Honeybourne made his debut as soloist at Symphony Hall, Birmingham
and the National Concert Hall
, Dublin, in November 1998. Since then he has developed an active and varied career throughout the UK and Ireland as soloist, lecture recitalist, chamber musician and teacher. He has given solo recitals at major venues in London, Birmingham, Dublin, Cork and most of the principal British and Irish cities, has broadcast as a solo pianist on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ (Irish) Radio FM3 and has appeared on BBC and RTÉ Television. He has appeared as solo recitalist at the Three Choirs and other British festivals and has toured extensively to numerous music clubs and arts societies throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Éire. His concerto performances have included works by Brahms (Piano Concerto no.2), Rachmaninov (Concertos 2 & 3), the Schumann Piano Concerto (including at Birmingham’s CBSO Centre
in 2001), Grieg, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (1,3 and 5), Franck, Hindemith, Shostakovich and Finzi. He has achieved particular renown as an interpreter of British piano music and has given premieres of new works dedicated to him by several leading composers, including the Piano Sonata no.3 by John Joubert
and the Piano Sonata no.2 by Andrew Downes
. He gave the world premiere of the Andrew Downes Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall
on 1 March 2009.
Duncan Honeybourne is a Piano Tutor and Coach/Accompanist at Bryanston School in Dorset, where he has been a visiting staff member since January 2003. From 2005-2008 he was also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chichester, where he devised and presented two seven-recital series, "Masterworks of Piano Music" and "Piano Plus", on the historic Steinway Model D piano in the University's Chapel of the Ascension. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts and, as an occasional writer on music, has written articles and obituaries for The Times, The Birmingham Post, the Cardiff Western Mail and other journals. He has devised and written several words and music programmes, including Dearest Tania, a portrait of the legendary pianist and society figure Harriet Cohen, which he has presented with actresses Louisa Clein and Joanna David.
Duncan Honeybourne's discography includes "Piano Music from the Midlands", a 2-CD issue recorded live in recital in Birmingham and released in April 2008, featuring works by Havergal Brian, Christopher Edmunds, Richard Francis, Edward Bache, Ruth Byrchmore, Andrew Downes and John Joubert. A CD of piano music by Moeran and Howells, released on the Winterbourne Records label, was launched on Honeybourne's recital tour of Ireland in October 2010.
Honeybourne began his studies at 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...
Junior Department, where he won the senior piano prize. He gave his first London recital at the age of fifteen and toured extensively throughout Britain as solo recitalist and concerto soloist. Awarded a place to continue at the RAM, he chose instead to move to the Birmingham Conservatoire where he graduated in 2000 with a B.Mus First Class Honours degree and won many prizes. In February 2007 he received the honorary award of HonBC from the Conservatoire for his distinguished contribution to the music profession. His teachers included Rosemarie Wright
Rosemarie Wright
Rosemarie Wright is an English pianist.Wright studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Patrick Cory and Harold Craxton, winning many prizes including the Chappell Silver Medal and Tobias Matthay Fellowship. Her later studies were with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Staatsakademie in Vienna, and with...
and Philip Martin, and his further piano studies were in London with John York, Leeds with Fanny Waterman
Fanny Waterman
Dame Fanny Waterman, DBE is a piano teacher, and the founder, Chairman and Artistic Director of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition. She is also president of the Harrogate International Music Fesitval.-Life:...
, and subsequently for three years on a Goldenweiser Scholarship in London with the Russian pianist Mikhail Kazakevich.
Duncan Honeybourne made his debut as soloist at Symphony Hall, Birmingham
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...
and the National Concert Hall
National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....
, Dublin, in November 1998. Since then he has developed an active and varied career throughout the UK and Ireland as soloist, lecture recitalist, chamber musician and teacher. He has given solo recitals at major venues in London, Birmingham, Dublin, Cork and most of the principal British and Irish cities, has broadcast as a solo pianist on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ (Irish) Radio FM3 and has appeared on BBC and RTÉ Television. He has appeared as solo recitalist at the Three Choirs and other British festivals and has toured extensively to numerous music clubs and arts societies throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Éire. His concerto performances have included works by Brahms (Piano Concerto no.2), Rachmaninov (Concertos 2 & 3), the Schumann Piano Concerto (including at Birmingham’s CBSO Centre
CBSO Centre
The CBSO Centre is the administrative home and rehearsal centre of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Choruses , and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group on the corner of Berkley Street and Holliday Street, in Birmingham, England.It...
in 2001), Grieg, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven (1,3 and 5), Franck, Hindemith, Shostakovich and Finzi. He has achieved particular renown as an interpreter of British piano music and has given premieres of new works dedicated to him by several leading composers, including the Piano Sonata no.3 by John Joubert
John Joubert (composer)
John Joubert is a British composer of South African descent, particularly of choral works. He has lived in Moseley, a suburb of Birmingham, England, for over 40 years. A music academic at the universities of Hull and Birmingham for 36 years, Joubert took early retirement in 1986 to concentrate on...
and the Piano Sonata no.2 by Andrew Downes
Andrew Downes (composer)
Andrew Downes is a British classical composer.Downes was born in Handsworth, Birmingham. In 1969, he won a choral scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he gained an MA degree specializing in composition, and in 1974 went on to study with Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music...
. He gave the world premiere of the Andrew Downes Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
on 1 March 2009.
Duncan Honeybourne is a Piano Tutor and Coach/Accompanist at Bryanston School in Dorset, where he has been a visiting staff member since January 2003. From 2005-2008 he was also a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chichester, where he devised and presented two seven-recital series, "Masterworks of Piano Music" and "Piano Plus", on the historic Steinway Model D piano in the University's Chapel of the Ascension. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts and, as an occasional writer on music, has written articles and obituaries for The Times, The Birmingham Post, the Cardiff Western Mail and other journals. He has devised and written several words and music programmes, including Dearest Tania, a portrait of the legendary pianist and society figure Harriet Cohen, which he has presented with actresses Louisa Clein and Joanna David.
Duncan Honeybourne's discography includes "Piano Music from the Midlands", a 2-CD issue recorded live in recital in Birmingham and released in April 2008, featuring works by Havergal Brian, Christopher Edmunds, Richard Francis, Edward Bache, Ruth Byrchmore, Andrew Downes and John Joubert. A CD of piano music by Moeran and Howells, released on the Winterbourne Records label, was launched on Honeybourne's recital tour of Ireland in October 2010.