Arts Global

Recognised as one of the most versatile and charismatic accompanists, Annabel  Thwaite has won all the major accompanying prizes, including the 2004 piano prize at the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition, and in 2005 and 2007 the Gold Medal Prize at the Barbican Hall and the Piano Prize at the Richard Tauber Competition at the Wigmore Hall. She has collaborated with renowned artists such as Roberto Alagna and Amanda Roocroft, and most recently  completed "Only Men Aloud" with Bryn Terfel.

As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed in many countries, including Canada, France, Italy, Sweden and South Africa, and in England, concertos at the Birmingham Symphony Hall and Imperial College, London. As a duo, both with instrumentalists and singers, she has performed at the Barbican Hall, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall (with cellist Mats Lindström), the Purcell Room, St John’s Smith Square and both the Oxford and Leeds Lieder Festivals. Last year, she was invited to be the Lied pianist for Wolfgang Holzmair’s class at the prestigious Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg,and most recently she accompanied the Wigmore Hall scholar for intensive coaching with Brigitte Fassbaender and then worked with Dalton Baldwin in the Academie Villecroze, France. She is also a regular staff pianist at both Charterhouse and Dartington International Summer Festivals.

As the official accompanist to the London Welsh Male Voice Choir she has accompanied the Festival of Male Voice Choirs at both the Millennium Centre, Cardiff, and the Royal Albert Hall, which was televised for S4C and recorded for both CD and DVD. She has also performed with them in the great cathedrals of England, including Canterbury and Wells, and toured to Slovenia, New York, Boston and western France. For the past four years she has been the accompanist at the Young Welsh Singer of the Year.

Ms Thwaite has recorded for Universal Records with the "Scottish Tenor", whose album was nominated for a Classical Brit Award and is regularly played on Classic FM. She is also a film session pianist, having recorded at Abbey Road, the music for the film "Awake", Blue Peter, the BBC Jane Austin series "Emma" and most recently, "The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister".

Her extensive teaching and accompanying experience includes giving masterclasses to all levels and ages at Pro Corda, workshops at Junior Trinity College of Music, and coaching at the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, Eton College and Francis Holland School. Ms Thwaite is extremely committed to outreach projects, having been a member of the "Live Music Now!" and "Lost Chord" schemes and this summer, she will be introducing Lieder into schools as part of the Machynlleth Festival, and then directing workshops as part of the Leeds Lieder organization. She is also an Associated Board Music examiner and was recently adjudicating at the National Chamber Music for Schools competition.

Ms Thwaite studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Senior Professor Joan Havill, and also at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse, Paris. She was the recipient of numerous scholarships including the MBF award for accompanists, an English Speaking Union scholarship to study at the Ravel Academie and also the Franz Schubert Institute and Fondation de Royaumont, France.

Future engagements include a busy schedule of instrumental and song recitals in in Great Britain, the Festival of Male Choirs in the Royal Albert Hall, October 2010 and a concert in the Millennium Centre, Cardiff for the Teenage Cancer Trust Charity.

For further information, please visit Ms Thwaite's personal website, www.annabelthwaite.com.