Angela Hewitt tops bill at Loaningdale's Spring Piano Festival

Described by The Sunday Times as a ‘mesmerising musician’, Angela has performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls including the Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.

She has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony, Swedish Chamber and the BBC Symphony Orchestras and has performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, Lucerne Festival and Trasimeno Music Festival in Umbria, of which she is artistic director.

Angela’s performance at Arts at Loaningdale will mark the first time she has performed in Scotland outside of a main city; the recital at Loaningdale House in Biggar is a rare occasion to hear a pianist of this level of international standing in such an intimate environment.

Loaningdale House, a 19th centruy mansion complete with a modern 120-seat central auditorium, was recently acquired by James Cameron, who is perhaps best known as the former proprietor of the Edinburgh Piano Company.

The company was the first port of call not only for private individuals looking for good domestic pianos but also for major concert halls whose performers expected the best. By the time he retired in 2016, James had supplied pianos for performances with stars such as Luciano Pavarotti, Nicola Benedetti and Frank Sinatra.

On retirement, James’s pianos were dispersed in an auction but he made sure to keep a few for future use. And these pianos – two magnificent concert grands, a 2003 Steinway and a 1929 Bösendorfer, as well as a smaller, beautifully restored period Steinway dating from 1874 – are central to his new enterprise.

Arts at Loaningdale will also be hosting five other pianists, with each recital having a distinct musical style.

The Spanish Liszt specialist Miriam Goméz-Morán will play Book 2 of Liszt’s Années de Pélérinage. Miriam combines a distinguished career as Professor at the Piano Faculty of the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León with a busy concert schedule.

She is particularly admired as a Liszt specialist in Hungary; in May this year, she will be a leading participant in the Liszt, the teacher international exhibition arranged by the Liszt Memorial Museum. Her interpretations of Liszt’s works are informed by her doctoral research exploring Liszt’s own performance practice through the first-hand accounts of his students.

As she puts it: “It is almost as if I had the opportunity to be a time traveller and take some lessons directly from Liszt himself.”

Scottish jazz pianist Brian Kellock will give a relaxed recital, with cabaret style seating, featuring one of his long-term collaborators double-bassist Kenny Ellis, bringing a more mellow vibe to the festival.

For the festival’s finale, internationally acclaimed piano duo Worbey and Farrell will combine music and comedy with their innovative blend of sparky humour and utterly sensational piano playing.

Earlier this year, Arts at Loaningdale forged a brand-new partnership with Live Music Now Scotland and is hosting Live Music Now pianist Nikita Lukinov as emerging artist. Nikita is a master’s student – though also a member of undergraduate teaching staff – at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

She said: “RCS offers everything that a classical musician could ever want: an outstanding level of practice facilities, a world-class faculty, and never-failing respect and connection between students and staff.

"In 2021, despite receiving scholarships from the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music, I decided to continue my Master of Music Degree at RCS, with generous support from The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. This academic year I was entrusted with a supplementary class for first-study pianists at the RCS, where we focus on solving technical difficulties. This made me the youngest senior staff in all Royal Music Schools.”

As well as performing at Loaningdale, Nikita is giving two concerts in association with Live Music Now in the local community – one at Biggar Primary School and another at Garvald, a centre which provides care and opportunities for adults with learning differences.

Arts at Loaningdale is also hosting an Open Piano Day, from 10am to 3pm on Sunday, April 30, when anyone can turn up and have a play of its superb Steinway!

The festival is also hosting an exhibition of visual art from local artist Sarah Dawnay entitled New Ground.

Sarah said: “Far reaching views and rapidly changing weather and skies make this area a visually exciting place for a painter. This landscape and that of my Highland childhood, and time spent in the Hebrides and Europe have greatly influenced my work.

“Having started late in life with watercolours, I am now using acrylics and oils to find intensity of colour and a sense of place.”

For more information and tickets visit artsatloaningdale.org/angela-hewitt/.