'…petits concerts', curated by James Lisney, raises funds for musical/education charities. The title is taken from the annual series of recitals given by Charles-Valentin Alkan at the Erard showroom in Paris during the 1870s.
The Amber Trust was founded in 1995 to help blind and partially sighted children across the UK who have a talent or love for music. Our vision is for blind and partially sighted children, including those with additional disabilities, to have the best possible chance to meet their musical needs and aspirations and fulfil their potential.
James Lisney enjoys a rich musical life, moving seamlessly from concerto and recital soloist to chamber musician, song accompanist and pianist director. Initiatives, such as his Schubertreise series at London's SouthBank Centre, and his extensive Beethoven Project for the recording company Woodhouse Editions, provide a platform for his wide-ranging musical sympathies.
James Lisney made his Wigmore Hall debut in 1986 and early representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust in London led to a career that has taken him to many prestigious venues and gained invitations to appear with major orchestras. Highlights include residencies at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Carnegie Recital Hall in New York.
James Lisney's repertoire ranges from baroque masterpieces to music of the present day. In the past decade, the music of Schubert and Beethoven have been a central pre-occupation (in performance and in recordings) and he regularly presents cycles of the piano sonatas and relevant chamber music. His recordings (on Naxos, Bis, Somm, Olympia and Carlton) have gained the highest recommendations. Recent months have seen him performing Schubert cycles in the Oxford International Piano Series, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the first Schubert piano sonata cycles on the Indian subcontinent and his recital debut at the Prague Rudolfinum.