Graham Fitch
Encyclopedia
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
.
Biography
First prize winner in the Mieczyslaw MunzMieczyslaw Munz
Mieczysław Munz was a Polish-American pianist.Munz trained in Vienna and Berlin, with Ferruccio Busoni...
Piano Competition, Fitch graduated with honours from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
as a Hopkinson
Hopkinson
Hopkinson is a surname of English and Welsh origin, and may refer to:* Alfred Hopkinson, British politician* Austin Hopkinson, British politician* Bertram Hopkinson, British engineer* Bobby Hopkinson, English footballer* Carl Hopkinson, English cricketer...
Gold Medallist. A Fulbright Scholarship then brought him to the United States, where he completed his studies with Nina Svetlanova
Nina Svetlanova
Nina Svetlanova is a Russian-American concert pianist and educator. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1983...
, and attended regular classes with Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher
Leon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...
.
During much of the 1990s, Fitch's career comprised solo and chamber performances in England, where he taught piano at the Purcell School
Purcell School
The Purcell School is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by Prince Charles, who...
, and North America. The New York Times described his playing as "unalloyed pleasure". In the United Kingdom he was a solo recitalist at the Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
Festival, and appeared in repeated engagements with the London Chamber Soloists on London's South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
. In America he played in concerts with the Trio dell'Arte, made various solo appearances and notably performing Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
's "Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion
Sonata for two pianos and percussion
Béla Bartók wrote his Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110, BB 115 for the International Society for Contemporary Music in 1937 and it was premiered by him and his second wife, Ditta Pásztory-Bartók, as the pianists, and percussionists Saul Goodman and Henry Deneke, at the ISCM anniversary...
" with timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
st Saul Goodman
Saul Goodman
Saul Goodman was a timpanist in the New York Philharmonic orchestra from 1926 to 1972. Saul learned under the instruction of Alfred Friese, whom he succeeded as principal timpanist in the New York Philharmonic...
. More recently, an international tour of Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
's Goldberg Variations
Goldberg Variations
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...
received positive reviews on four continents and invitations to return to Australia, New Zealand and the United States ensued.
Fitch was Head of Keyboard at the University of Cape Town until 2008. He has given recitals, masterclasses and keynote addresses at the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference and London's 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...
, as well as participating in the Stellenbosch International Piano Symposium.