New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he won the Gold Medal in his final year. He subsequently spent two years as a Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music, and studied in Paris with Yvonne Loriod. After winning the NFMS Young Concert Artist Award he made his debuts in the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Barbican Hall in London and has since given concerto performances with the BBC Scottish Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, New London and Philharmonia Orchestras, amongst others. Solo performances in recent seasons have taken him to Tokyo, Cologne, Paris and New York, as well as throughout New Zealand, where he has been based since 2010. He has performed with many musicians, including Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Viktoria Mullova. His extensive discography includes works by Bliss, Barber, Messiaen, Shostakovich and Brahms, and premiere recordings of Arvo Pärt, Henryk Gorecki, Ned Rorem and the 1st piano concerto of Lyell Cresswell for Naxos, which was written for him in 2012. In addition to his performing schedule Stephen De Pledge has a teaching position in the piano department at the School of Music, University of Auckland.

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