Enjoy a beautiful early evening concert of great piano music spanning the romance of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata and the jazzy rhythms of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, played by John Paul Ekins.
Starting at 7pm, this 75 minute programme without interval leaves you plenty of time for drinks or dinner in town afterwards.
John Paul Ekins was born in London, began playing the piano at the age of five, and many years later graduated from the Royal College of Music and as a scholar at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with first class degrees, studying with John Barstow and Charles Owen. A winner of nineteen prizes at international competitions, he was presented to her Majesty the Queen and has enjoyed a busy career performing and teaching around the UK and internationally. Highlights have included recitals at the Wigmore Hall and concerto performances at The Royal Albert Hall.
With the onset of the covid-19 pandemic he set up an online concert series, ‘Cats, Chats & 88 Keys’, to maintain his connection with audiences and raise money for the NHS and Help Musicians UK. Performing live from his music room in south-west London, the series is founded on a passionate belief that classical music is for everyone.
At his concerts he delivers informal yet enlightening introductions to welcome and inspire those who are new to classical music, while deepening the experience for those who are more familiar with it. He shares his home with five housemates and three quirky cats, who are never far from the music-making.