STEPHEN GUTMAN

 London-born Stephen Gutman is recognised as one of Britain’s most brilliant and creative interpreters of modern music. Following his studies at the Royal College of Music, he was awarded first prizes in the Brant Competition and the British Contemporary Piano Competition. He has given the UK premieres of works by Birtwistle, Ligeti and Schnittke among others. He has also commissioned many new works (from Julian Anderson, Michael Finnissy, Simon Holt and Luke Stoneham for example). He has performed and broadcast widely in Europe as well as in Japan and the USA. He is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and was the Contemporary Artist in association with the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He has recorded for the Metronome, NMC and Unknown Public labels.

Among his most personal projects are The Debussy Studies Project and Les Enfants de Rameau. In 1997, with the sponsorship of the Arts Council of England, he asked 12 British composers to write pieces mirroring the 12 etudes of Debussy. Two years later, Les enfants de Rameau, modelled on variations by Dukas, received widespread critical acclaim. Subsequent activities, including a Satie cycle at Dartington (2001) and acclaimed performances of Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks (2000) and The Axe Manual (2003) in London, have confirmed his reputation. In 2004 he created a sequence of interconnected music events that were built up from the short fantasy What strikes the clocke by the 16th century composer Edward Gibbons. This integrated the contributions of professional musicians, students from several secondary schools and work of composers of all ages and backgrounds. It was entered for the Guinness Book of Records as the largest number of premieres in a single performance. Also in 2004, Gutman gave the Scottish premiere of John Adams’ piano concerto Century Rolls and in 2005 performed the Tippett Concerto. Future recording projects include the complete solo works of Jean-Phillipe Rameau on the piano for Toccata.

Also active as a chamber-music player, Gutman has appeared in concerts and broadcasts with many distinguished international artists and ensembles.