Thomas Kelly October 2019 and June 2023
Thomas Kelly was born in November 1998. He started playing the piano aged 3, and in 2006 became Kent Junior Pianist of the Year and attained ABRSM Grade 8 with Distinction. Aged 9, Thomas performed Mozart’s Concerto No. 24 in the Marlowe Theatre with the Kent Concert Orchestra. After moving to Cheshire, he regularly played in festivals, winning prizes including in the Birmingham Music Festival, 3rd prize in Young Pianist of The North 2012, and 1st prize in WACIDOM 2014. Between 2015 and 2021, Thomas studied with Andrew Ball, firstly at the Purcell School of Music and then at the Royal College of Music. Thomas has also gained inspiration from lessons and masterclasses with musicians such as Vanessa Latarche, Ian Jones, Tatiana Sarkissova, Paul Lewis, Mikhail Voskresensky and Dina Yoffe. Thomas has been studying with Dmitri Alexeev at the RCM since April 2021.
Thomas has won 1st prizes including the Pianale International Piano Competition 2017, Kharkiv Assemblies 2018, at Lucca Virtuoso e Bel Canto festival 2018, RCM Joan Chissell Schumann competition 2019, Kendall Taylor Beethoven competition 2019, BPSE Intercollegiate Beethoven competition 2019, the 4th Theodor Leschetizky competition 2020 and the Sheepdrove Intercollegiate Competition 2022. In 2021 Thomas was a finalist in the Leeds International Piano Competition. More recently, he was awarded 2nd prize and special prize for best semi-final performance at the Hastings International Concerto Competition 2022.
He has performed in a variety of venues, including the Wigmore Hall, the Cadogan Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Steinway Hall London, Holy Trinity Sloane Square, St James’ Piccadilly, Oxford Town Hall, St Mary’s Perivale, the embassies of Russia and Brazil in London, the Poole Lighthouse Arts Centre, the Newbury Corn Exchange, the Stoller Hall, Leeds Town Hall, at the North Norfolk Music Festival, the Deal Festival, the Paris Conservatoire, the Steingraeber-Haus in Bayreuth and separately at the Teatro Del Sale and the British Institute in Florence. In July 2022 Thomas was very grateful to receive a 5-star review from Fiona Maddocks writing for the Observer. He has since been awarded the prestigious Critics’ Circle Young Pianist of 2022 award. Thomas is supported by the Kendall-Taylor award. He has been generously supported by the Keyboard Charitable Trust since 2020, and by Talent Unlimited since 2021.
