Past Performances
St Mary's Church in Shrewsbury was candlelit for Fenella Humphreys when she played the complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J.S.Bach for the first time in Shrewsbury's history. These works were written in a 5-year period when Bach was not required to write strictly religious music and during this time, under the employment of the Calvinist Prince Leopold, he composed the Orchestral Suites, the Brandenburg Concertos, the 6 Cello Suites and the 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin.
Mariam Batsashvili returned to Shrewsbury for a fraction of her normal fee to christen the new Kawai GX5 grand piano being donated to St Mary's Church, the new venue for the Shrewsbury International Recital Series. The piano has kindly been supplied by Tania Staite, a piano expert of 30 years and friend to Daniel Lebhardt who recommended her. She has provided a 3 year interest-free loan for £23,000 and the concert series hopes to raise the necessary funds.
Initial ticket sales suggested using the Trinity Chapel, but in the event the chapel was overflowing with guests, many of whom bought tickets on the door.
Mariam began her recital with Mozart's Fantasia in D Minor, an unfinished work completed by one of Mozart's admirers. The new piano sang under the sensitive fingers of the Georgian maestro, helped by the fabulous acoustics and visual beauty of the medieval church of St Mary the Virgin.
William Bracken played the second International Piano Recital sponsored by the Keyboard Trust and the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation in St Alkmunds Church as part of their free Tuesday lunchtime concert series. He performed on Tuesday April 1st 2025.
William Bracken is in high demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician and teacher. The Wirral-born pianist has won numerous awards including 1st prize at the 2022 Liszt Society International Piano Competition, 1st prize, press prize and audience prize at the 2023 Euregio Piano Award international piano competition and 3rd prize at the 2024 UniSA international piano competition in South Africa. He is currently continuing studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he also holds a position as teaching assistant in the Centre for Creative Performance and Classical Improvisation.
The famous Georgian pianist played her first recital in Shropshire on Sunday 19th January 2025 at 2.30pm in St Chads Church, Shrewsbury as part of the Shropshire Music Trust 2024-2025 Season. Mariam has already played in over 30 countries around the world since being the first woman to win the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht 2014.
James Fraser Andrews reviews pianist Mariam Batsashvili...
"Pianist Mariam Batashvili is one of the world’s living treasures and I now realise why everyone wants a piece. Originally slated to visit Shrewsbury two years ago, one baby and 43 international flights later, this diminutive dynamo of the keyboard finally landed at St Chad’s with an unforgettable programme of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Liszt that combined piercing, crystalline beauty with red-blooded gypsy fire and charm.