Tom Poster

Tom Poster enjoys a busy and diverse career, appearing as concerto soloist, solo recitalist and chamber musician across an extensive repertoire in a range of major international venues. He has been described as “an unparalleled sound-magician” (General-Anzeiger), “a pianist of distinction” (The Times), and as possessing “great authority and astounding virtuosity” (Est Républicain). Since his London concerto debut at the age of 13, Tom has appeared in a wide-ranging concerto repertoire of 30 major works, with orchestras and conductors including the BBC Philharmonic/Yan Pascal Tortelier, BBC Scottish Symphony/James Loughran, China National Symphony/En Shao, Southbank Sinfonia/Vladimir Ashkenazy, St Petersburg State Capella Philharmonic and European Union Chamber Orchestra. He has given solo recitals at concert halls and festivals throughout the UK, in Bonn, Hamburg, Leipzig, Lugano, Paris and the Channel Islands, and on several occasions at the Spoleto Festival, by personal invitation of the late Gian Carlo Menotti.

In 2007, Tom won First Prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition, where he also received the prize for the best performance of the specially commissioned work by Judith Weir. Earlier competition successes included winning the keyboard sections of the Royal Over-Seas League and BBC Young Musician of the Year Competitions in 2000. Tom has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio 3 and on international radio and TV stations, and has recorded works by Thomas Adès for EMI. As pianist of the Aronowitz Ensemble, BBC New Generation Artists 2006-2008, he has appeared at the Wigmore and Bridgewater Halls, the Aldeburgh, Bath and Cheltenham Festivals and the BBC Proms. The group was awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust’s Special Ensemble Scholarship 2009 and releases its debut disc this season. Tom has also collaborated with Alison Balsom, Natalie Clein, Nicholas Daniel, Guy Johnston, Tasmin Little and Willard White, the Brodsky, Endellion, Medici, Sacconi and Skampa Quartets, and the Soloists of the Philharmonia. Forthcoming highlights include concerto tours with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra/Stewart Robertson in Florida and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Robin Ticciati, solo and chamber music recitals for BBC Radio 3, and two appearances at the BBC Proms 2009.

Well-known for his readiness to face a challenge, Tom has on several occasions been asked to step in at the last moment for indisposed artists, once rushing across London to perform the Grieg Concerto at only three hours’ notice, and recently replacing Lang Lang as guest soloist in a Proms Educational Event at less than a day’s notice. A dedicated communicator, he has adjudicated and given masterclasses at a number of festivals, presented programmes on Beethoven and Schumann for BBC Radio Scotland, and was Artistic Director of Chacombe Music Festival for three years. He has also appeared as Reciter in Walton’s Façade, recorded his own Gershwin arrangements with jazz singer Victoria Hart, and had his compositions performed extensively, including two chamber operas written when he was twelve.

Born in 1981, Tom studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he held a Postgraduate Fellowship, and at King’s College, Cambridge, where he gained a Double First in music.

Click here to download Tom Poster’s biography as a PDF file.

Click here to download Tom Poster’s shorter biography as a PDF file.