Recital: Ellis Thomas – piano

The Programme

Ellis Thomas – piano

Sonata in Ab, Hob XVI:46

Novelletten, Op 21 No 8

Fantaisie in F minor, Op 49

The Artist

Welsh pianist Ellis Thomas is rapidly establishing a reputation as a versatile and thoughtful pianist and chamber musician. Acclaimed as a ‘sincere and committed’ musician, offering performances ‘with real understanding’ (Julian Jacobson), Ellis is equally at home with core repertoire as with contemporary and lesser-known works. Ellis has already performed extensively at venues around the UK, including at LSO St Luke’s and St James’s Piccadilly, and is regularly invited to perform at music festivals in England and Wales. In recent years he has performed abroad, including in Spain, Germany and Italy, with his performances and interviews broadcast on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Cymru, and S4C television.

Ellis works frequently as a collaborative pianist – currently for the International Music Academy of Solsona in Catalonia, Spain. He regularly performs with cellist Gerard Flotats, and together they are currently performing the complete cycle of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano at venues in England and Wales.

He has been awarded prizes at competitions including the 2021 Düsseldorf Robert Schumann International Piano Competition and has won first prizes at the Wales International Piano Festival, Gregynog Young Musician and the RIBI National Young Musician, and the Wales National Eisteddfod, amongst others. He has been fortunate to have received masterclasses and lessons with professors such as Boris Berman, Imogen Cooper, Till Felner, Péter Nagy, and Steven Osborne.

He is interested in exploring new connections between music and other arts; he recently worked with artist Appau Junior Boakye-Yiadom for an exhibition for Kettle’s Yard Gallery in Cambridge, providing improvisations for a series of short films.

Ellis graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2022 with First-Class Honours, where he achieved the highest mark in a final recital performance. Prior to this, Ellis studied at the Royal Northern College of Music’s Junior department for six years under Manola Hatfield. He is currently pursuing postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is studying under Tessa Nicholson. Alongside a scholarship from the Academy, Ellis is grateful for support from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Kathleen Trust, Talent Unlimited, and the Michael James Music Trust.