​Daniel Tong, piano

Daniel Tong was born in Cornwall and studied in London. His musical life is spent performing as soloist and chamber musician, as well as directing two chamber music festivals, teaching and occasionally writing. He released his first solo CD of works by Schubert for the Quartz label in 2012. He also recorded short solo works by Frank Bridge for Dutton as part of a London Bridge Ensemble disc and broadcast Janacek’s piano sonata live on BBC Radio 3.

He has appeared at many of the foremost British venues and festivals – Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre, St Georges Bristol, Birmingham Town Hall, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh as well as the Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and Edinburgh Festivals. He has also performed in many other parts of Europe including festivals in St. Mere, Ponte de Lima, La Loingtaine, Resonances and Cucagnan, as well as concert venues in Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Antwerp and Lyon. He is frequently heard on BBC Radio and his performances have been broadcast throughout Europe and beyond. His project ‘Music Discovery Live’, in collaboration with musicologist Richard Wigmore, has seen a series of lecture-recital weekends on Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann piano works. It continues throughout 2014 and 2015 in Oxford and Winchester. In autumn 2012 he was invited to curate an Elgar festival at Kings Place in London and he has curated a Dvorak programme there in 2014. He has also presented lecture-recitals on Beethoven piano sonatas at St Georges.

His London Bridge Ensemble has established itself as an exciting presence on the UK music scene, combining different combinations of strings, piano and voice to form challenging and inspiring programmes. They have recorded two CDs of works by Frank Bridge for Dutton (the most recent of which was shortlisted for the Gramophone Chamber Music Award) as well as Schumann and Fauré for Sonimage. These releases have each been praised and recommended in the press. The ensemble recently gave performances at the Wigmore Hall and Kings Place in London and broadcast a live concert from Champs Hill in Sussex on BBC Radio 3. In 2009 they established their own festival in Winchester. In 2015 they embark upon a residency at St John’s, Smith Square in London and release their latest CD, the two Dvorak piano quartets.

Daniel has collaborated with the Elias, Navarra, Callino, Barbirolli, Allegri and Heath quartets. He has a regular duo with baritone Ivan Ludlow. Each year Daniel plays with an array of wonderful individual artists, often at his own chamber festivals; in Winchester and also in the Wye Valley. Founded in 1999, the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival attracts many of the most exciting chamber musicians of the younger generation to spend ten days making music in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The Festival has become a well-established and treasured event in the region’s cultural life, also gaining national attention for its creative spirit and artistic vibrancy.