Concert

Videos

Viv McLean - Piano  'Exceptional'  Le Monde, Paris     

Winner of the First Prize at the 2002 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Viv McLean has performed at all the major venues in the UK as well as in France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Malta, Israel, Cyprus, Japan, Australia and the USA.

His concerto work includes appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, London Concert Orchestra, Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Musicians' Symphony Orchestra. He has performed chamber music with leading groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet and the Leopold String Trio and collaborated with musicians such as Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Eijin Nimura, Mia Cooper, Sarah Nemtanu, Lawrence Power, Phillip Dukes, Matthew Sharp, Kate Gould, Alasdair Strange, Raphael Perraud, Isa Katarina Gericke, Jeanette Ager, Nora Gubisch, Richard Dubugnon, Wayne Marshall and Christopher Warren-Green.

Viv has performed in festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival and Harrogate Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden.

Viv studied at Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne where he held the Hodgson Fellowship and received financial assistance from the Hattori Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. He was made an associate of the Royal Academy in 2005. He made his Wigmore Hall recital debut through winning the Friends of the Royal Academy Wigmore Award. Whilst studying at the Academy, Viv was the piano winner at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition and was selected as one of three winners of the National Federation of Music Societies' Young Artists Competition, leading to various recitals and concerto appearances throughout Great Britain.

Viv has recorded regularly for BBC Radio 3 since making his recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded recitals for Classic FM as well as for WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and Radio Bialystok in Poland. His commercial releases include recordings for such labels as Sony Classical Japan and Naxos, as well as for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's own label.

Future plans include concerts in France, Norway, Japan and the UK. Please see Viv's concert diary for more information.

The pianist Viv McLean seemed exceptional to me; he astonished us with his musical maturity and extraordinary sonority. 

Le Monde (Paris)

At the Festival de Melle, Viv McLean revealed extraordinary originality, superb simplicity, and fingers of steel hidden behind muscles of velvet. He is an otherworldly young man - he plays with the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves, naturally placing themselves at the right point to meet the music, this mystery of the moment.

Le Monde (Paris)

The pianist Viv McLean never faltered, spewing molten lava.

The Times (London)

The fluent technique and brilliance of the interpreter were impressive, he played with insight and the greatest sensitivity.

General Anzeiger (Bonn)

The listener was struck by the sustained level of technical mastery. Viv McLean performed with his mind as well as his hands. 

Sunday Times

Links:

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra