The English pianist Kelvin Grout began playing the piano at the age of four and won his first competition when he was six. He studied piano accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where his teachers included, David Wilde, Robin Bowman, Paul Hamburger, and Graham Johnson. During this period he also worked with Geoffrey Parsons, Roger Vignoles, Gerald Moore, Gerard Souzay and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf who subsequently invited him to work with her in her private studio in Switzerland, a collaboration that lasted six years.
Whilst playing for Dr Schwarzkopf at her master-classes in Amsterdam he decided to take up residency in the Netherlands where he has lived for the last twenty seven years. He has appeared at all the major concert halls and is a regular performer at the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, most recently being invited back for a concert of Mahler which was created specifically for the Concertgebouw.
He has broadcast on radio and television throughout Europe and made numerous recordings.
In concerts and classes he has worked alongside many of the worlds greatest lieder singers including, Gundela Janowitz, Jessye Norman, Elly Ameling, Inessa Galante, Sarah Walker, Nancy Argenta, Carolyn Watkinson, Roberta Alexander, Tom Krause, Robert Tear and Maarten Koningsberger.
In addition to his performing, the last ten years has seen him gain a fine reputation as a teacher, throughout Europe and America. His master-classes are always in demand and he is now developing a series of coaching videos for singers and pianists.
Kelvin has recently made a return to the stage as a soloist, performing many of the great works of Brahms, Schumann and Rachmaninoff. He has also established the British Piano Music Society, promoting the much under-performed music of the great British composers. The first recording of this society has been released on the Etcetera label, featuring piano music of Frank Bridge, including his masterpiece, the Piano Sonata. This recording has received high praise and was recently described as the definitive performance of this difficult music.
As a composer he has written music for ballet, his piece ‘Quiet Strength’ regularly appears in European houses, and was recently performed at the Bayreuth Festival.
Kelvin Grout is Director for the Lieder Academy an International institute based in the Netherlands.