About Peter Donohoe
Peter Donohoe was born in Manchester in 1953. He studied at Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, graduated in music at Leeds University and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music with Derek Wyndham and in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod. He is acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, for his musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique.
In recent seasons Donohoe has appeared with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Concert Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Belarusian State Symphony Orchestra, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has undertaken a UK tour with the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving concerts in many South American and European countries, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Russia and the USA. Other past and future engagements include performances of all three MacMillan piano concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; a “marathon” recital of Scriabin’s complete piano sonatas at Milton Court; an all-Mozart series at Perth Concert Hall; concertos with the Moscow State Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Royal Festival Hall, and a residency at the Buxton Music Festival.
Donohoe is also in high demand as a jury member for international competitions. He has recently served on the juries at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (2011 & 2015); Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels (2016); Georges Enescu Competition in Bucharest (2016); Hong Kong International Piano Competition (2016); Vlassenko Piano Competition and Festival (2017); Alaska International e-Competition (2018); the Concours de Genève Competition (2018); Ferrol Piano Competition (2022), and Hong Kong International Piano Competition (2022), among many others both within the UK and abroad.
Donohoe’s most recent disks include Bacewicz: Orchestral Works Vol. 2 and an exploration of Busoni’s solo piano works with Chandos; Taneyev & Schumann: Piano Quintets with Signum; Granados & Albeniz with Chandos, and a section of waltzes of Ravel, Schumann, Debussy & Chopin with SOMM. Other recent recording include six volumes of Mozart Piano Sonatas (SOMM); Haydn Keyboard Works Vol 1 (Signum); Grieg Lyric Pieces Vol 1 (Chandos); Dora Pejacevic Piano Concerto (Chandos); Brahms & Schumann viola sonatas with Philip Dukes (Chandos), and Busoni: Elegies and Toccata (Chandos), which was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Award.
Donohoe has performed with all the major London orchestras, as well as orchestras from across the world: the Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Vienna Symphony, and Czech Philharmonic Orchestras . He has also played with the Berliner Philharmonika in Sir Simon Rattle’s opening concerts as Music Director. He made his twenty-second appearance at the BBC Proms in 2012 and has appeared at many other festivals including six consecutive visits to the Edinburgh Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron in France, and at the Ruhr and Schleswig Holstein Festivals in Germany.
The 23/24 season kicked off with Peter Donohoe performing as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle with four performances of Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie in London, Edinburgh and Bucharest. Following a March 2024 South American Tour, notable performances in the 24/25 season included concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of India, the Georges Enescu Symphony Orchestra in Bucharest, Vox Arma Deus in Philadelphia (USA), and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Cadogan Hall. The season also featured recitals at the Fondación Juan March in Madrid, the Chopin Piano Festival in Prishtina, Kosovo, and at various UK festivals including the Ludlow Piano Festival, Newbury Spring Festival and Ulverston Music Festival.
Peter Donohoe will play the following programme:
BUSONI: Variations on a theme of Chopin Op. 22
CHOPIN: 24 Preludes, Op. 28
RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Chopin Op. 22
About Westminster Cathedral Hall
Described on completion as one of the finest meeting rooms in London, this Edwardian hall was designed by Westminster Cathedral architect John Francis Bentley and represents some of his finest work. It has recently been extensively modernised and restored to its original splendour.
The entrance to the Hall is in Ambrosden Avenue, which runs between Victoria Street and Francis Street.
Getting there
By train or underground: Victoria (mainline and underground) and St James’s Park (underground) are both less than 5 minutes walk.
By bus: Nos 11, 24, 211 and 507 buses stop immediately in front of the Cathedral piazza on Victoria Street.
By car: Not recommended due to the new ULEZ charge and the Congestion charge which now operates on Sundays. However to avoid both of these, you can park on the far side of Vauxhall Bridge Road and walk to the Hall down Francis Street, turning left into Ambrosden Avenue (about 5 minutes).
General Information
The Chopin Society UK reserves the right to change artists or programmes due to circumstances beyond their control.
Reception after the concert
After each recital we hold a buffet reception, with a glass of wine or tea or coffee. The artists attend this reception and it’s a great opportunity to meet the performers, talk to other members of the audience and make new friends.
Venues
London is unique in having some of the venues in which Chopin played still available and suitable for recitals – several much as they were when Chopin played in them. See photographs and descriptions of our attractive concert venues.
Tickets
- Prices vary and are listed under each event, so please check the particular recital you wish to attend.
- Members get into concerts at Westminster Cathedral Hall free. There is usually a charge for other events. Members are welcome to bring guests. All concerts must be booked in advance. Booking forms will be mailed to members and will also be available online. Members enjoy priority booking.
- Guests should check seat availability with the Secretary, as demand is expected to be high this year.
- Friends of the Chopin Society get into 3 concerts a year (chosen by the Society) and enjoy priority booking.
- Student tickets are available for some of our events. Students will be required to present a valid student card.
