XXVII International Masterclass for Pianists

Thu 17 Oct 2024 to Mon 21 Oct 2024, daily 10.00am – 1.30pm and 3.00pm – 6.30pm. On Monday (21 Oct) lessons only until 1.30pm. Literaturhaus Darmstadt.

Visitors welcome! Free entry for visitors.

Supporting Programme

• 16 Oct 2024 · Opening Recital with Anna Geniushene, Orangerie, 7.00pm.
• 21 Oct 2024 · Closing Concert of the participants, Literaturhaus, 7.00pm. Free admission.

Tutor

Christopher Elton

Christopher Elton was born in Edinburgh and studied principally at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he achieved the unusual distinction of being awarded the Academy's highest honour – the Dip. RAM – for both piano and cello.

A prize-winner at several national and international piano competitions, he performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, with regular recordings, while also working as a freelance cellist with the major London orchestras.

Christopher Elton's international recognition stems from the many successes of his students at the Royal Academy of Music. Many have won international prizes, including first prizes at the Van Cliburn, the London “World” International Piano and “Top of the World” competitions, as well as at the Shenzhen International Piano Competition 2014 and the Montreal International Piano Competition 2014. His students have also been among the prize-winners of the last four Leeds International Piano Competitions and, earlier, of the Tchaikovsky, Bach (Leipzig), Dublin and Shanghai competitions, among many others. Many of them are today sought-after artists whose recordings are highly prized, among them Freddy Kempf, Yevgeny Sudbin, Joanna MacGregor, Inon Barnatan and Benjamin Grosvenor.

Although his work at the Royal Academy in London remains his priority, Christopher Elton is also much in demand abroad, both as a teacher and as a juror at international competitions. In recent years he has given masterclasses in the USA, Japan, Israel, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Vietnam. He has been invited to serve on the juries of many major international competitions – Moscow (Tchaikovsky), Dublin, Leeds, Busoni (Bolzano), Beethoven (Vienna), Shenzhen and China International, Santander and others. In 2017 he was a juror at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, USA. In recent years he has also given recitals in the United Kingdom, the USA, Ireland, Spain, Australia and Vietnam.

Participants & Repertoire