Biography

Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as soloist and chamber musician, adept on modern and historical instruments, and renowned as both performer and pedagogue. Notable performances in the 2025/26 season include multiple appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall, performing as concerto soloist with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and in festivals including Bath Mozartfest, Cumnock Tryst, IMS Prussia Cove, Musikdorf Ernen, Resonances, Shenzhen Verbier Festival, and Yellow Barn. Musical collaborators include Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Viktoria Mullova, Pieter Wispelwey, and the Nash Ensemble.

Alasdair is acclaimed as a sincere musician and intrepid programmer. Alongside a particular affinity with the classical repertoire and the music of Schumann and Fauré, he often explores the more exotic: Catoire, Pierné, Thuille; Debussy’s Jeux (in the composer’s arrangement for solo piano); Ligeti Horn Trio, Harrison Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks; and Thomas Adès Piano Quintet. His concerto repertoire includes works of Bach, Bartok, Fauré, Hans Abrahamsen, Hindemith, Mozart, Sally Beamish, Stravinsky, and Messiaen. In recent years he has appeared with Britten Sinfonia, Moscow Virtuosi, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sønderjyllands Symphony Orchestra and Vaasa City Orchestra.

Recent recordings include Beethoven and Schubert works for violin and fortepiano with Viktoria Mullova on Signum, and a solo piano recital Aus Wien on Pentatone. These join an acclaimed discography of numerous solo and chamber recordings, on modern and historical pianos, on BIS, Chandos, Claves, Champs Hill, Evil Penguin, Onyx, Pentatone, SOMM and Rubicon labels.

A regular participant at the open chamber music at IMS Prussia Cove, Alasdair took part in their tours of 2007, 2011, and 2021, and collected the 2008 RPS Award for Chamber Music on their behalf. He has enjoyed working closely with composers George Benjamin, Harrison Birtwistle, Tom Coult, Brett Dean, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Heinz Holliger, Thomas Larcher, Claire-Mélanie Sinnhuber, and Helena Winkelman.

Alasdair was a student of John Blakely at the Royal College of Music, London, and Menahem Pressler at Indiana University. He teaches solo piano at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and regularly teaches and mentors for Chamber Studio and MusicWorks. From 2012 to 2018 Alasdair was founder and artistic director of Musique à Marsac, and since 2019 is artistic director of the Kammermusikfest at Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland.

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