Llŷr Williams

Llŷr Williams – pianist

Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams is widely admired for his profound musical intelligence, and for the expressive and communicative nature of his interpretations. An acclaimed performer of Beethoven, he has several complete sonata cycles under his belt, including at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, while in May 2020 a planned full cycle at the Festival Cultural de Mayo in Guadalajara, Mexico was recorded as live by Signum Records from his home in Wrexham and broadcast by the Festival.

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2019 saw Williams returning to the Edinburgh Festival, as well as the Cowbridge festival where he is Artist-in-Residence, and the Gower Festival where he is a Patron, while in 2020 prior to lockdown he returned to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for a recreation of Beethoven’s 1808 Vienna Concert, and gave all-Beethoven recitals in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as for the Philadelphia Chamber Music society in the US. In October 2020, Williams returned to Wigmore Hall for two streamed recitals, while in the same month he completed his Cardiff series ‘Pictures in Music’ at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; 2021 sees the start there of an all-Chopin series spanning two seasons.

Williams’ eclectic repertoire is reflected in his discography; November 2020 saw the release of an 8-disc box-set ‘A Schubert Journey’ on Signum records. His previous release, the 12-disc ‘Beethoven Unbound’ also on Signum Records, was BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Recording of the Month’ in August 2018. Other recordings by Williams include two solo albums for Signum, as well as William Mathias’ second Piano Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on Welsh label Tŷ Cerdd.

A former BBC New Generation Artist and Borletti-Buitoni Trust award winner, Llŷr Williams was born in Pentrebychan, North Wales, and read music at The Queen’s College, Oxford before taking up a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and in 2017 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wales. He is also currently Artist-in-Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

November 2020

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Nicolas Papageorgiou (Artist Manager)

Contact:
Victoria Rowsell (Managing Director)
Nicolas Papageorgiou (Artist Manager)

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Videos

Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.32, in C minor, op.111
(RWCMD, May 2017)
00:00 Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
09:20 Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile

Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.31, in A flat major, op.110
(RWCMD, May 2017)
00:00 Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo
07:20 Allegro molto
09:48 Adagio, ma non troppo

Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.30, in E major, op.109
(RWCMD, May 2017)
00:00 Vivace ma non troppo
04:10 Prestissimo
06:50 Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo