The Chopin Connection
Murray McLachlan: Homage à Godowsky
Ronald Stevenson: Fugue on a Fragment of Chopin
Frédéric Chopin: 24 Preludes, Op. 28
Since making his professional debut in 1986 at the age of 21 under the baton of Sir Alexander Gibson, Murray McLachlan has consistently received outstanding critical acclaim. Educated at Chetham’s School of Music and Cambridge University, his mentors included Ronald Stevenson, David Hartigan, Ryszard Bakst, Peter Katin, and Norma Fisher.
His recording career began in 1988 and immediately attracted international attention. Recordings of contemporary music have won numerous accolades, including full star ratings, as well as ‘rosette’ and ‘key recording’ status in the Penguin Guide to CDs, and ‘Disc of the Month’ and ‘Record of the Month ‘in ‘Music on the Web’ and ‘The Herald’. In 2020 he recorded the complete piano works of Edward Gregson for Naxos and in 2019 the Ruth Gipps concerto with the RLPO under Charles Peebles for SOMM. 2023 saw the release of a five CD box set world Premiere recording cycle of the complete piano sonatas of Geoffrey Allen (1926-2021).
McLachlan’s repertoire includes over 40 concertos and 25 recital programs. He has given first performances of works by many composers and has appeared as a soloist with most of the leading UK orchestras. His recognition has been far-reaching, bringing invitations to perform on all five continents.
McLachlan teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester where he has been Head of Keyboard since 1997. In 2001 he founded the world-famous Chetham’s International Summer School and Festival for Pianists www.pianosummerschool.com which is now in its 22nd season. Billed as ‘The Friendliest Summer School of the World’ it is the largest event of its kind devoted exclusively to piano and annually attracts over three hundred participants and an international faculty of over sixty celebrated pianist-teachers.
As well as performing and teaching Murray McLachlan is well-known internationally for his numerous articles on Piano technique and repertoire. In particular, he has written for International Piano Magazine in a column that is now in its twenty-second year. His three books on technique ‘The Foundations of Technique’, ‘Piano Technique in Practice’ and ‘The Psychology of PianoTechnique’ were published by Faber, have been reprinted several times, and received wide international acclaim. In 2013 the University of Dundee awarded Murray McLachlan an honorary doctorate for services to music and education www.murraymclachlan.com