James Kirby
James Kirby gives recitals throughout the UK, and has appeared
as a soloist at Wigmore Hall and the Edinburgh and Aldeburgh
festivals. His work overseas includes concerts in France, Belgium,
Germany, Italy, Holland and the Czech Republic. Having studied at
the Moscow Conservatoire he returns to perform in the former Soviet
Union every year, special highlights being invitations to perform
at the Sakharov Festival in Nizhny Novgorod and the Omsk Festival.
He has given concerto performances with the English and Scottish
Chamber Orchestras, Moscow, Khazakh and Belorussian Symphony
Orchestras, and the Arad and Oradea Philharmonic Orchestras
(Romania), at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden and the Great Hall of the Moscow
Conservatoire. He has performed both Brahms Concertos in Russia and
Romania.
He has been a member of the Barbican Piano Trio since 1992,
performing regularly at Wigmore Hall and in major UK festivals and
concert series, and throughout Europe and the USA. The Trio’s
repertoire consists of over seventy works and their discography
includes trios by Lalo, Tchaikovsky, Taneyev, Rachmaninov and
Schnittke. In 2007 the Trio celebrated its Twentieth Anniversary,
culminating in a series of three birthday concerts at Wigmore Hall
featuring works by Haydn, Beethoven and Taneyev.
James has worked with the Vanburgh Quartet, BBC Singers, Lydia
Mordkovitch and the mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly and has made two
recordings for Chandos. He teaches at the Royal Welsh College in
Cardiff, Royal Holloway, University of London and is an Honorary
Professor at the Rachmaninov Institute, Tambov, Russia where he
makes annual visits to perform concertos, give recitals and
masterclasses and lead chamber music courses.
He has served on the juries of several international Piano
competitions, most recently in Romania, Latvia, Russia and
Slovenia.