Tristan MacWhirter piano

Arnold                 Variations on a Ukrainian Folk Song, Op. 9
Rautavaara         Six Études, Op. 42
Ireland                 Piano Sonata

Our new season of Live at Lunch performances continues our long-standing and successful partnership with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, as we welcome post-graduate piano student, Tristan McWhirter.

Tristan’s programme offers the unique opportunity to hear three brilliant and colourful 20^th century pieces very rarely heard in concert. He begins with Sir Malcolm Arnold’s youthful Variations on a Ukrainian Folk Song. Described as “attractive whimsy” the ten variations reference Brahms and a Rumba before ending in a grand virtuosic fantasia.

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s hauntingly beautiful Studies each explore a different musical interval (the difference in pitch between two sounds). With jazz inflected harmonies and the influence of Debussy heard, these technical showpieces show-off the full range of the keyboard.

Finally, John Ireland’s Sonata has been described as “the outstanding example of all British piano sonatas” and a vital contribution to British music. Ireland considered it his best work, and it’s full of memorable melodies with a rich palette of colours.

Tristan was born in South Africa and secured a scholarship to study at Birmingham Conservatoire with acclaimed pianist Mark Bebbington. He is currently a postgraduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) studying with another great British pianist, Benjamin Frith.