MAX WALSH
Max is a young pianist and composer born in Birmingham who plays for the first time in Shropshire. He will perform on the new Kawai GX5 piano being donated to St Mary's Church and all proceeds from the retiring collection will go to the Piano Fund.
Max will perform in St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury at 1pm on Wednesday 9th September 2026 and the recital is free to attend.
The event is sponsored by the Keyboard Trust, a charity that Peter Barritt works with to provide recital opportunities for promising young international pianists. Pianists who started out with help from the Keyboard Trust include Evgeny Kissin, Anna Fedorova, Dinara Klinton, Paul Lewis and many others.
Programme
Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude, S. 173/3
Liszt: La lugubre gondola, S. 220/1Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19
Ravel: Jeux d’eau, M. 30
Messiaen: La colombe (The dove) from Préludes pour piano
Messiaen: XV. Le baiser de l’Enfant-Jésus from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus
Biography
Max Walsh is currently under the tutelage of Jan Loeffler at the Junior Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He has been awarded a full scholarship to study Piano and Composition at the Royal College of Music, from September 2026. He is a new artist for The Keyboard Charitable Trust and Talent Unlimited, and is funded with the generous support of Dr K.R.Weir’s legacy through the Keyboard Charitable Trust.
In 2025, he won first prize in the Liszt Society International Piano Competition and the Junior Wales International Piano Festival, as well as prizes at the New Talent Festival and the Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform. In response to his Liszt performance, Christopher Axworthy wrote: “A youthful burning passion for music and a young man born to play the piano. He and the piano fit so naturally in a way that cannot be taught and at only 18 his potential is enormous and may know no bounds.” Max was also among the five finalists in the 2025 BBC Young Composer competition, receiving the Highly Commended award. Max has performed in several masterclasses, most recently with Boris Giltburg at the Reform Club, London and Giorgi Gigashvili at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham. He has attended several summer schools, where he studied with Julian Lloyd Webber, Joanna MacGregor, Katya Apekisheva, Carole Presland, Murray McLachlan, John Thwaites, and Julian Jacobson. Max has also studied jazz piano with Joe Thompson and Iwan Van Hetten, and chamber music with Peter Campbell-Kelly.