Pianist and composer Nathan Williamson studied at Guildhall, Oxford and Yale, where he also held a prestigious fellowship.
Recent highlights include 100 Years of British Song, a three-CD project for SOMM Recordings with tenor James Gilchrist, the complete Beethoven Concertos with the Prometheus Orchestra, recording Sonatas and Nocturnes by Malcolm Lipkin for Lyrita, and the premiere of Christopher Brown's 24 Preludes and Fugues. During the covid pandemic Nathan gave online recitals for City Music Live and streamed regular live music into schools and care homes.
Nathan's first CD for SOMM Recordings, Great American Sonatas (2017), was hailed by Musical Opinion as 'a landmark in recordings of American piano music' and Colour and Light (2019), of British 20th century piano repertoire, was chosen as Album of the Month in International Piano Quarterly. His debut recording, Brahms and Schubert: Late Piano Works, was reviewed by Donald Sturrock as 'a truly electrifying debut from a musician with a rare marriage of thoughtfulness and passion'.
Equally at home composing for the stage and the concert hall, and for amateurs or professionals, Nathan has recently been commissioned by Mahogany Opera, London Youth Opera, and the Aldeburgh Festival. Two virtuosic song-cycles for voice and piano - The Little that was Once a Man for James Gilchrist (2019) and Grey and Green are all my Light (2023) for Jonathan Eyers - have been widely performed and recorded with the composer at the piano. Other commissions include Daejeon Philharmonic, Rossetti Ensemble, NOW Ensemble, the Southbank, and Bury St. Edmund's Cathedral. His music can be heard on SOMM, New Amsterdam, and Navona Records.
Nathan is deeply involved in music-making of all kinds in his hometown of Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, where he directs the Southwold Music Trust, which seeks to make music a central part of the local community through performance and participation
Nathan joined Piano Circus in 2016.
Nathan Williamson
