Piers Lane and Amanda Hurton, piano duo

MENDELSSOHN  Overture from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

MAHLER  Adagietto, 4th Movement from Symphony No 5

SCHUBERT  Fantasie in F minor, D940, Op 103

FAURE  Dolly Suite, Op 56 

RAVEL  Daphnis et Chloé, Part III – Lever du jour, Pantomime, Danse générale

We are delighted to present two outstanding duet partners – internationally-renowned pianist Piers Lane and concert pianist and educator Amanda Hurton – who will perform together on one piano. 

An unusual opportunity to hear well-known orchestral masterpieces in a new guise!

Before the availability of sound recordings, chamber and orchestral music was frequently arranged for piano in the 18th and 19th centuries to allow audiences to play music at home that they had heard at concerts.  Piers' and Amanda’s programme harks back to this tradition and contains both original compositions for piano duet as well as arrangements of three well-known orchestral pieces by Mendelssohn, Mahler and Ravel.

London-based Australian pianist PIERS LANE has a worldwide reputation as an engaging, searching and highly versatile performer. Five times soloist at the BBC Proms, his wide-ranging concerto repertoire exceeds one hundred works and has led to engagements with many of the world’s great orchestras, working recently with conductors like Sir Andrew Davis, Vassily Sinaisky, Gerard Schwartz and Brett Dean. Festival appearances have included Aldeburgh, Bard, Bath Mostly Mozart, Bergen, Cheltenham, Como Autumn Music, Prague Spring, Rockport, La Roque d’Anthéron, Ruhr Klavierfestival, Schloss vor Husum, Seattle and the Chopin festivals in Warsaw, Duszniki-Zdrój, Mallorca and Paris.  Piers has performed in over forty countries, highlights including annual Wigmore Hall solo recitals and concerto performances in London’s major halls and at Carnegie Hall, including a performance of the mighty Busoni Concerto. In 2015 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sydney International Piano Competition. He is a popular judge at international piano competitions and has also judged the Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. His extensive collaborations with violinist Tasmin Little CBE, actress Dame Patricia Routledge and the Goldner String Quartet have been of major importance. He is a member of the recently-formed chamber group Amici della Musica. In recent seasons Piers Lane performed three concerti at Carnegie Hall, including the New York premiere of Ferdinand Ries’s Piano Concerto No 8 for the debut of The Orchestra Now (TŌN), and world premieres of Carl Vine’s second Piano Concerto and Double Piano Concerto (with Kathryn Stott) 'Implacable Gifts', both written for him. 

Piers was Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music from 2007 to 2017, and from 2006 to 2013 directed the annual Myra Hess Day at the National Gallery in London. He has written and presented over 100 programmes for BBC Radio 3, including the 54-part series The Piano, and has premiered works by such composers as Brett Dean, Colin Matthews, Richard Mills, Carl Vine and Malcolm Williamson. In the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Birthday Honours he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished services to the arts.  In 1994 Piers was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, where he was a professor from 1989 to 2007. Piers holds Honorary Doctorates from two Australian Universities and in 2022 was presented with the coveted Sir Bernard Heinz Award for services to music in Australia. 

Piers has made many recordings. Please visit his website for more information.

AMANDA HURTON enjoys a varied career as pianist, accompanist, teacher, chamber music coach, examiner and adjudicator. She studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal College of Music, where she graduated with First Class Honours and won 10 major prizes, including Concerto Prize twice and prize for best Diploma Recital. Amanda was a national finalist in BBC YMOTY 1982, finalist in LPO Pioneer Competition and National Federation of Music Societies Competition, and winner of the Tillett Trust  Competition and Hastings Concerto Competition. She has performed extensively in the UK and in Europe. Further afield she has performed in the USA, the Middle East and  Australia. Concerto highlights include Rachmaninov No 2 and Gershwin at the Barbican, Prokofiev No 3 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ravel Concerto for Left Hand with the Young Musicians’ Symphony Orchestra at St John’s, Smith Square. Solo performances include at the Fairfield Halls, White Rock Theatre Hastings, Bath Festival, Newbury Festival, broadcasts on  BBC Radios 2/3/4, French Radio and live on Classic FM. 

Amanda has accompanied twice in the Category Finals for BBC Young Musician of the Year, including in 2023 with her clarinettist son Lucas Dick and in 1980 with the string section winner, Clare McFarlane. They were later selected as a duo for representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust, resulting in many recitals and a documentary by Granada TV.  Other chamber collaborations include a performance of the Debussy Violin Sonata with Sir Yehudi Menuhin in Paris. 

Amanda has been an ABRSM examiner since 1995 and has examined and given seminars abroad, also acting as mentor on the CT ABRSM Professional Development course. She has produced recordings of orchestral, choral, chamber and instrumental works for record companies including BMG, ASV, Claves, Auvidis, Hyperion and Naxos. These have resulted in awards and recommendations, including Diapason d’Or, Gramophone Editor’s Choice and CD Compact Recording of the Year. From 2003, Amanda produced six series of complete Piano Syllabus recordings for ABRSM, working with an array of international concert pianists and college professors. She has taught first study pianists at the Yehudi Menuhin School and in 2016 was on the Jury of the Wales International Piano Festival Competition. 

Amanda lives in Esher and has had her own private piano teaching practice for over 30 years. She also teaches at Hampton School. 

Piers and Amanda both studied at the RCM with Kendall Taylor and have enjoyed collaborating on a wide range of piano projects spanning several decades. These include preparing respective concerto performances, as performer/producer team for several Hyperion recordings and ABRSM, and more recently as a piano duet team.

Amanda is the daughter of Sheila and Michael Hurton, who both gave many years of dedicated service to our music society - including several years as President in Sheila's case. 

REVIEWS

"No praise could be high enough for Piers Lane whose playing throughout is of a superb musical intelligence, sensitivity, and scintillating brilliance." Bryce Morrison, Gramophone

HOW TO GET TICKETS

Concert ticket £25

Members, children, students under 26, accompanying carers: free

NHS staff, Universal Credit recipients £5

Family Ticket: £30 for two adults, or £15 for one adult, accompanying one or more children

Available at the door (cards, cash and cheques accepted) and in advance

To book and pay by cheque or bank transfer, or to reserve a ticket, please contact our Box Office Manager, Jane Muir: janemuir72@gmail.com or call 07766 884991

To book online visit https://www.wegottickets.com/OxshottCobhamMusicSociety

Online bookings are subject to a 10% admin fee.