Performer five

BIOGRAPHY

Duncan Honeybourne enjoys a diverse profile as a pianist and in music education. Commended for his “gripping performances” (The Times), “suave confidence” (International Piano) and “great technical facility and unfailing imagination” (Musical Opinion), he is best known for his interpretations of 20th and 21st century British piano music. Following his concerto debuts in 1998 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, he made recital debuts in London, Paris, and at international festivals in Belgium and Switzerland.

Duncan has toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at many major venues and leading festivals. He has broadcast for over 20 years on BBC Radio 3 and more than 20 radio networks worldwide, including French, Swiss and Austrian Radio, ABC (Australia) and Radio New Zealand. He has premiered over 70 new piano works, including John Joubert’s Third Piano Sonata, John Casken’s Tempus Plangendi, Cecilia McDowall’s Notes from Abroad and the Andrew Downes Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall. Duncan has also revived many forgotten scores by composers of earlier generations, and his discography includes premiere recordings of piano works by Baines, Bainton, Gurney, Armstrong Gibbs, Greville Cooke and Walford Davies. In 2021 he was invited by the BBC to give the first performance of two rediscovered piano preludes by English romantic composer Susan Spain-Dunk in a recital broadcast live on Radio 3 from St David’s Hall, Cardiff.

Duncan was a prizewinner at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, graduating with First Class Honours and completing his studies with the Russian pianist Mikhail Kazakevich on a scholarship from the Sheepdrove Trust. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Academy, the University of Southampton and Sherborne School, and is Founder/Artistic Director of the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts near his home in Dorset.