Award winning British pianist & Park Lane Group Artist, Phillip Leslie is known for his captivating playing and diverse programming. A laureate of competitions across the globe including the Gothenburg International Piano Competition, Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition and Liszt International Piano Competition UK, he is fast becoming one of the UK’s leading young artists.
“at ease in the rigour of earlier music, the lush tones of romanticism, and the risk-taking of the twentieth century”EDINBURGH MUSIC REVIEW
“Like a handful of other great pianists, Leslie makes you hear the eternity and the modernity in everything he plays.”
HIP
Praised for his sense of “culture and refinement” by the Liszt Society, British pianist Phillip Leslie is a thought-provoking artist and has received considerable acclaim for his performances across the UK and Europe. He has been described by ESM as a “tour-de-force” and “an unassuming prodigy” by the Hastings Independent Press. He enjoys an international career having performed extensively across the UK and Europe. His concert engagements include performances at Salle Cortot, Bridgewater Hall, Steinway Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Castellon Auditorio & the Wigmore Hall. He made his ‘Emerging Artist’ debut recital at the Usher Hall at the beginning of the 2023/24 season.
“He summoned up all the mystery of Debussy’s drowned cathedral with its subdued bells”
Emerging Artist Recital, Usher Hall
Named a Park Lane Group Artist (alumni include John Ogdon & Jacqueline du Pré) in 2018, he made his Southbank Centre debut as part of Southbank International Festival in 2019 in a program of works by Knussen & Boulez. Fast becoming a champion of British repertoire and contemporary music, Phillip has performed works by Kenneth Leighton on BBC Radio and given numerous world premiere performances including works by Ian Stephens, Gonçalo Gato and multiple performances of Peter Copley’s Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra, dedicated to Margaret Fingerhut. A hommage to his education, Phillip’s fascination with lesser known works began at an early age with a repertoire encapsulating music from Bach to Boulez. Presenting themed recitals such as a ‘Visions of Land & Sea’ and ‘Folk tales through time’ in recent seasons, the juxtaposition of such musical threads proves an important part of his identity. During the 2022/23 season he performed works by Ruth Gipps & Benjamin Britten for the BBC Philharmonic Chamber Recitals at the Bridgewater Hall. The 2024 season will see the release of his debut album of piano music by Alan Rawsthorne & John McCabe on Divine Art, English Music Festival, Holst 150 & Bechstein Hall recitals. Previous festival appearances include the Southbank, Endellion & Perth annual music festivals. He was named one of the Cross Trust’s ‘Artist of the year’ in 2022.
A prize winner of the Anton Rubinstein International Piano Competition in 2023, he has just won First Prize and ‘Best Interpretation of a Swedish work’ at the Gothenburg International Piano Competition in Sweden. Phillip has established himself as one of the leading young artists of his generation. He is a laureate of numerous competitions including of the Liszt International Piano Competition (UK), EPTA Piano Competition, Odin Piano Competition, Vienna International Piano Competition, Jock Holden Mozart Memorial Prize, Frederic Lamond Prize and a finalist in the Beethoven Society of Europe Piano Competition in 2021. As a child he was a recipient of the Joyce Buse Memorial Award & the Wadebridge Choral Society Prize as ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’.
He is a passionate educator and considers his outreach work of the upmost importance to his musical life. As a Concordia Foundation Artist, Keyboard Charitable Trust Artist, Live Music Now Artist & Cross Trust Artist, he is grateful to have the opportunity to share music with a wider audience. Curated alongside Creative Director, Catherine Lock, the ‘Kitchen Table Sessions’ aims to bring the audience closer to the artist and allow for an intimate salon recital from home.
“a full-bodied sound, transparent passagework and clarity of expression.”
The Cross-Eyed Pianist
“Schumann’s ‘Drei Fantasiestücke’ was passionate, tender and lyrical, and energetic by turn”
STRATHEARN HERALD
In demand as a collaborative artist, he has performed with orchestras including the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, Trinity Laban Symphony, Dunblane Chamber Orchestra, BYO & Cornwall Youth Orchestra. In 2023 he performed Brahms First Piano Concerto with the Scottish Sinfonia and has enjoyed collaborations with Neil Mantle, Dominic Peckham & Robert Baxter. Previous concert highlights include recitals for the Bösendorfer Salon Series UK, Institut français d'Écosse and at the Reid Concert Hall amongst others.
He has had the privilege of receiving masterclasses and further guidance from Steven Osborne, Peter Tuite, Stephen Hough, Martino Tirimo, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Jonathan Plowright, Ivan Klansky, Peter Frankl, Pascal Roge, Paul Komen, Ashley Wass, Leon McCawley, Boris Petruchanksy, Gabriela Montero, Christopher Elton, Jacques Rouiver, Anne Queffelec, Françoise Thinat, Graeme McNaught & Dr Leslie Howard.
Educated at Trinity Laban, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Northern College of Music & L’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, a scholar at each institution, he received the Weingarten Prize and Silver Medal Keyboard Award for his his studies in London. His teachers have included Philip Fowke, Alexander Ardakov, Margaret Fingerhut, Kathryn Stott & Aaron Shorr. He was a recipient of the Sir James Caird Travelling Trust Scholarship for his studies and furthermore received the Sir Philip Ledger Award by the Caird Trust.
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