Lunchtime Recital - Sonya Pigot (piano)

Programme:

F. Chopin - Nocturne Op. 9 no 1 in B flat minor (1830)

F. Chopin - Nocturne Op. 48 no 1 in C minor (1841)

F. Chopin - Nocturne Op.48 no 2 in F sharp minor (1841)

Franz Liszt - Lyon S.156/1 from his Album D'un Voyageur (1834)

Carl Maria Von Weber - “Invitation to the Dance” Op. 65, J.260 (1819)

Volodos - Transcription of Rachmaninov’s “Andante” from his cello sonata Op.19 (1901)

Franz Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody no 17 in d minor (1882)

Free Entry. Retiring collection, suggested donation £5

Biography:

In January 2025 Sonya was a semi-finalist in the Liszt Utrecht International piano competition at the TivoliVredenburg, Netherlands and her performing career has taken her worldwide to prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, Steinway Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and concert halls throughout Asia, Australia and Europe. While engaged in her Undergraduate, Masters and Artist Diploma Degrees at the Royal College of Music she has studied and worked with renowned professors including Norma Fisher, Sofya Gulyak, Ashley Wass, Dimitri Alexeev and Ian Jones. She is now on a scholarship studying a PhD that explores the relationship between personality and the interpretation of music at the RCM.

As well as having performed for members of the British Royal Family, Sonya has won prizes in many international music competitions across Australia and Europe; most notably the Busoni International piano competition, semi-finalist in Liszt Utrecht International piano competition, First prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso International music competition, Gold Medal in the Berliner International Music competition, First prize in the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award piano competition and First prize in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rising Star competition.

She is generously supported by Talent Unlimited, and she is looking forward to performing at Steinway Hall, London as a "New Artist" for the Keyboard Charitable Trust.

Sonya has had concert engagements with orchestras since she was 15, most notably the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Gill AO and the Perugia Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marius Stravinsky in Tuscany.

Sonya has participated in masterclasses with many international artists, such as: Alfred Brendel, Boris Berman, John Perry, Ewa Poblocka and Pavel Gililov.

Alongside her solo career she is looking forward to performing with the violinist David Nebel, Concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the upcoming 25/26 season.