Leon McCawley

Leon McCawley plays the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York on Wednesday 11 November, starting at 7:30 PM. It's a solo piano recital, and the programme is a broad one, running from the Classical period through to the Romantic and into the early 20th century.

He opens with Mozart's Piano Sonata no.5 in G major, K.283, followed by Fanny Mendelssohn's Notturno in G minor. From there, it's into Beethoven's Piano Sonata no.3 in C major, Op.2 no.3, and then Grieg's Ballade, Op.24. The latter has its own bit of history: Grieg wrote it after his parents died in 1875, and it's based on the Norwegian folk song 'Den nordlandske bondestand'. The night rounds out with Fauré's Nocturne no.4 in E flat major, Op.36 and Chopin's Ballade no.3 in A flat major, Op.47.

McCawley is a British pianist whose international career took off in 1993, when he won First Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. He studied at the Royal College of Music and has performed as a soloist with orchestras like the Royal Philharmonic. He's built a large discography covering Classical, Romantic and 20th-century repertoire, and International Piano once described him as 'one of today's most impeccably musical pianists'.

The recital is part of the York Concert 2026/27 Season. Tickets range from £7.00 to £20.00, and the hall is at the University of York, York YO10 5DD.