John Lenehan - Biography

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Praised by the New York Times for his “great flair and virtuosity” and the London Times – “a masterly recital”, John Lenehan’s performances and recordings have been acclaimed throughout the world. As a soloist he has appeared with orchestras at home and abroad, most recently with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican and the RPO in the Royal Albert Hall. John Lenehan has collaborated with many leading instrumentalists and is recognised as an outstanding chamber musician. During the past few years he has appeared in major concert halls in Amsterdam, Vienna, Salzburg, New York, Washington, Toronto, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo.

John Lenehan has made more than seventy CDs covering a huge range of music. Duo sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms rub shoulders with piano concertos by Michael Nyman and John Ireland, chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and jazz  repertoire with Emma Johnson. The final (fourth) disc in his complete edition of John Ireland’s piano music was awarded the “editor’s choice” accolade in Gramophone and included in the I-tunes list of “best of 2011″. His other solo recordings include three discs for Sony Classical of minimalist piano works, a disc of Erik Satie (for Classic FM) and a Gramophone award-winning recording for Naxos (with the Ulster Orchestra) of Michael Nyman’s Piano Concerto. 2012 saw the release of his recording of Brahms Sonatas with Emma Johnson and, with Julian Lloyd Webber, “A Tale of Two Cellos” which ended 2013 at number one in the classical specialist charts. CDs released in 2014 included music by Vaughan Williams (with the London Soloists Ensemble) and a flute recital with William Bennett. His most recent recording - the Vaughan Williams Concerto for two pianos (with Leon McCawley and the Royal Scottish SO)  will be released in 2015.

John is increasingly drawn towards jazz and particularly early 20th Century styles including ragtime and stride piano and has recently been performing in a two-piano collaboration with the acclaimed improviser Jason Rebello. He also composes, with works published by Faber, Novello and Schotts.   His Fantasy on Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker has recently been recorded by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. He has written and arranged for a long list of soloists and orchestras including Nigel Kennedy, Nicola Benedetti, Leonidas Kavakos and Yuja Wang, the BBC Concert Orchestra, RPO and Hong Kong Philharmonic. Highlights last year included a recording for Chandos with long-time collaborator Tasmin Little and an appearance with the RPO at Cadogan Hall.