One of Britain’s foremost pianists, Leon McCawley has forged a highly successful career since winning First Prize in the 1993 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, building on his earlier success as Winner of the Piano Section of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1990. Since then, McCawley’s impressive discography has established him as a pianist of great integrity and variety, bringing freshness and vitality to classical, romantic and twentieth-century repertoires. His recent CD of Haydn’s Sonatas and Variations for SOMM Recordings was awarded a Diapason d’Or in July 2017.

As a concerto soloist, McCawley performs with many of the world’s leading orchestras, among them the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony and Vienna Symphony and has worked with conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Daniele Gatti, Paavo Järvi, Andrew Litton, Kurt Masur, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo, and Sir Simon Rattle.

McCawley’s discography includes Schumann piano music (Avie Records) selected as Editor’s Choice in The Gramophone; the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas (Avie), awarded a Diapason d’Or; Barber piano music (SOMM), awarded Critic’s Choice in The Gramophone in 2011; Brahms piano music (SOMM), selected as Classic FM ‘CD of the Week’ in 2012; Schumann Piano Music (SOMM); Rachmaninov’s complete Preludes (SOMM); and many other major works.