GRAHAM CASKIE (Piano)

A renowned advocate of contemporary music, Graham Caskie’s debut CD recording from 1993 comprised works by British composers Michael Tippett, Paul Patterson, John McCabe and Nigel Clarke. Caskie has since had several works specially written for him including Sonata op.44 (1996) by Christian Alexander, A Suite for Molly (1998) by Matthew King, an ideal insomnia (2003) and Interludes (2008) by Stephen Goss, and now, in preparation for 2010, a new work by John Cooney.

In celebrating the centenary of Sir Michael Tippett in 2005, Graham Caskie’s recital programmes included the Tippett Third Sonata, which he had previously studied with the composer prior to recording in 1993, and the premiere of an ideal insomnia by Stephen Goss. These concerts culminated in a recital at the Purcell Room at London’s South Bank Centre in 2005.

El Mestengo, (a ‘jazz etude’) written in 2008 by Dutch pianist and composer Marcel Baudet, was premiered by Graham Caskie at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam in January 2009. Graham will record El Mestengo in Holland in 2010.

A unique collaboration between Graham Caskie, the artist Brian Dunce and composer Stephen Goss resulted in the release of a CD recording in 2009 entitled Preludes and Interludes. This project started in 2006 when Brian Dunce was commissioned by the Guildford International Festival to paint twelve ‘works’, each one a direct and personal visual response to each of the twelve Debussy Preludes, Book One. The idea was to present both art and music simultaneously ‘in performance’ with all twelve paintings installed in a large semi-circle around the piano. Preludes  was premiered in this format at the 2007 Guildford International Festival.

In developing the project a stage further, British composer Stephen Goss wrote a number of short pieces, entitled Interludes, his own musical reflections on the Debussy Preludes and the paintings by Brian Dunce, which were specially commissioned by the R C Sherriff Trust. These pieces were designed to be interspersed throughout the Debussy Prelude cycle, and the premiere of this unusual programme was presented at the Riverhouse Barn in Walton-on-Thames in 2008 and subsequently staged at various other venues across the UK.

Future projects include recordings of: Brahms Klavierstücke, Debussy, Preludes Book 2, and, in the summer of 2010, the Chopin E minor Piano Concerto together with the Chopin Sonata for Piano and Cello, with Thomas Carroll. (All recordings on the Cadenza label.)

Graham Caskie was born in Darlington in 1967, and studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Academy of Music under Frank Wibaut, Hamish Milne and Alexander Kelly.

He currently teaches at The Royal Academy of Music and The Yehudi Menuhin School. (www.grahamcaskie.com)