Angela Hewitt has established herself as one of the world's best known and most respected pianists not least through her superb, award-winning recordings for Hyperion. Her ten year project to record all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as "one of the record glories of our age" and has won her a huge following. She has been hailed as "the pre-eminent Bach pianist of our time" (The Guardian) and "the pianist who will define Bach performance on the piano for years to come" (Stereophile). Her discography includes CDs of Beethoven, Schumann, Messiaen, Ravel, Chopin, Couperin, Rameau and Chabrier. Future recording plans include the Schumann Concerto with the DSO Berlin and Hannu Lintu, a series of Mozart concerti, as well as solo discs of music by Debussy and Faure.
Angela Hewitt appears regularly as a soloist with the major orchestras, and recent engagements include the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Basel Chamber, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and a debut at the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Forthcoming orchestral engagements will include the Finnish Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Brussels Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RAI Torino, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms and a return to Verbier Festival. In September 2011, Ms Hewitt will perform Messiaen's 'Turangalila' with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Kent Nagano in concerts to celebrate the opening of the new hall in Montreal.
As a recitalist, Angela Hewitt appears at all the top concert halls and festivals, including most recently the Berlin Philharmonie, Munich Herkulessaal, Royal Festival Hall, London, De Doelen, Rotterdam, Serate Musicali Milan, National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Herbst Theatre San Francisco and Tokyo Opera City. She regularly gives recitals in London's Royal Festival Hall and is also a favourite guest at the Wigmore Hall, where in November 2010, Ms Hewitt gave the world premieres of six newly-commissioned works by leading composers as part of a major project entitled 'Angela Hewitt's Bach Book'. The works, all of which are in some way inspired by Bach are published by Boosey & Hawkes in a special collection entitled 'Angela Hewitt's Bach Book', along with some of her own Bach transcriptions.
Recital highlights of 2011/12 will include a French series at Wigmore Hall and engagements at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Berlin Philharmonie, Stockholm Konserthus, Serate Musicali Milan, Teatro della Pergola, Florence, Casa da Musica, Porto, Gstaad Festival and in Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Sao Paolo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Melbourne. In 2012-13, Angela Hewitt launches a major project to perform Bach's 'The Art of Fugue' in two programmes in major halls worldwide, and based around concerts at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the International Piano Series.
Born into a musical family, Angela Hewitt began her piano studies aged three, performing in public at four and a year later winning her first scholarship. She then went on to learn with French pianist, Jean-Paul Sevilla. In 1985 she won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition.
Angela Hewitt was named 'Artist of the Year' in the 2006 Gramophone Awards. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000, and was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2006. She has homes in London, Canada and Umbria, Italy, where she invites international musicians each summer to take part in her own Trasimeno Music Festival.
Angela Hewitt is represented by Bridget Emmerson at Intermusica (bemmerson@intermusica.co.uk).
July 2011 / 572 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
