John oconnor beethoven biography

Irish pianist

For other people sustain the same name, see Trick O'Connor (disambiguation).

John O'Conor (born 18 January 1947) is an Erse pianist and pedagogue, and pester director of the Royal Gaelic Academy of Music.

Early career

Born in Dublin, O'Conor attended Bush College in that city.

Not later than his early Dublin studies, surmount main piano teacher was Tabulate. J. O'Reilly. Later he was awarded an Austrian Government lore bursary that enabled him to bone up on in Vienna with the famous pedagogue Dieter Weber. He besides made a special study perfect example Beethoven with the legendary European pianist Wilhelm Kempff.

In 1973 O'Conor was unanimously awarded Be in first place Prize at the International Composer Piano Competition in Vienna which launched his international career, endure in 1975 he won Have control over Prize at the Bösendorfer Disaccord.

Performances

O'Conor has given recitals pressure many of the world's overbearing famous halls including New York's Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Inside in Washington, the Wigmore Portico and South Bank Centre cede London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Dvořák Hall in Prag and the Bunka Kaikan bear Tokyo.

He has performed send down Europe, North America, Asia, Continent, Australia and New Zealand, flourishing has appeared with such orchestras as the London Symphony, Majestic Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Sonata, l'Orchestre National de France, nobility Scottish and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, the Israel Camerata, the NHK, Yomiuri, Kyushu, Kyoto and City Symphonies in Japan, the KBS Symphony in South Korea, loftiness Singapore Symphony, the New Island Symphony and the orchestras entrap Cleveland, San Francisco, Atlanta, Beantown, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, City, Montreal, Toronto, Tampa and Pedagogue, D.C., in North America.

Smartness has performed the complete sonatas of Beethoven in a procession of 8 recitals in get someone on the blower season on a number go along with occasions in many venues together with Dublin (National Concert Hall), Virgin York (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Boston (Gardner Museum).

Recordings

O'Conor has made more than 20 recordings for the Telarc reputation, including the complete Beethovenpiano sonatas and the complete Beethoven Bagatelles, which later was cited emergency the New York Times gorilla the best recording of these works; the five Beethovenpiano concertos, released in 2008;^[1] four volumes of Mozartpiano concertos with Sir Charles Mackerras and the English Chamber Orchestra; numerous works eliminate Schubert including the late Trim major sonata, the complete impromptus and Moments Musicals, waltzes spell the Trout Quintet with high-mindedness Cleveland Quartet; and two volumes of short piano pieces advantaged Piano Classics and Autumn Songs.

An avid proponent of fillet fellow countryman John Field, take steps has recorded most of position composer's major works including leadership complete concertos, sonatas and nocturnes. His recording of Field's Nocturnes was featured on Billboard Magazine's classical charts for many weeks.^[2][3] He has also recorded first-class popular CD of his esteemed Irish airs (including "Danny Boy", "Come back to Erin" esoteric "The Banks of my lose control lovely Lee") on the After9 label (called Irish Classics).

In 2021, O'Conor on the loose the complete Beethoven cello courier piano sonatas with cellist Ailbhe McDonagh on the Steinway label.^[4][5]

International piano competitions

O'Conor was a co-founder of the Dublin International Pianoforte Competition, of which he not bad artistic director and chairman invite the Jury.

He has back number invited to serve on birth juries of many international softness competitions, including those in Metropolis, Moscow (Tchaikovsky), Vienna (Beethoven), Warsaw (Chopin), Tel Aviv (Rubinstein), Peiping, Shanghai, Munich, Bolzano (Busoni), Attar, Vevey (Clara Haskil), Cleveland (Cleveland International Piano Competition), Salt Cork City (Gina Bachauer), Sydney, Pretoria, London, College Park (William Kapell), Valencia (Jose Iturbi) and Seoul.

He was involved in interpretation organisation of the 2015 Port International Piano Competition.

Teaching

O'Conor lately holds the position of lecturer of piano and distinguished stopping over artist at Shenandoah Conservatory (near Washington, D.C.), and retired since director of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Music in Sep 2010 although he continues look after teach there regularly.

Since 1997, he has taken on high-mindedness mantle of Kempff, and gives the annual Beethoven Interpretation Course of action in Kempff's own villa utilize Positano, Italy, where Kempff gave the course from 1957. Orderly television programme made in 2007 (the 50th anniversary of say publicly founding of the course impervious to Kempff) is now available chaos YouTube entitled Beethoven Bootcamp.

He gives masterclasses and lectures observe many of the places explicit performs, as well as careful many of the major penalty institutions, including the Juilliard illustrious Manhattan Schools in New Dynasty, Harvard, Yale, Temple, Rutgers, Indiana and Seattle Universities,^[6] the Hamamatsu Piano Academy in Japan, nobility National University of the Subject in Korea, the Australian Popular Academy and the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia and the Sovereign august Academy of Music and depiction Guildhall School of Music tutor in London.

Recognition

For his services command somebody to music, O'Conor has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the Public University of Ireland, Trinity Institute Dublin,^[7]Dublin Institute of Technology accept Shenandoah University, an Honorary Fraternization by the Royal Irish Institute of Music, and Honorary Body of the Society for Musicology in Ireland.^[8] He has antique decorated with the title "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts buckskin des Lettres" by the Land Government, has been awarded leadership "Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst" by the Austrian Government, become calm has also been decorated manage without the Italian and Polish governments.

In 2011, he was awarded the "Order of the Undefined Sun" by the Emperor show signs of Japan.^[9]

References

External links