The Two Piano Gala forms the heart of the London Piano Festival where five internationally acclaimed pianists will team up in various formations to celebrate the joys, challenges and sheer brilliance of pianistic collaboration. The enormous variety of music promises to take listeners on a musical journey spanning three centuries ranging from works by Mozart & Schubert via Rachmaninoff & Poulenc. Sonnets, a brand new commission by Sally Beamish will feature six hands as an intricate Shakespearian love triangle in the time of plague is imaginatively depicted.

Katya Apekisheva, described as being a ‘profoundly gifted artist’ by Gramophone Magazine, is one of Europe’s most renowned pianists, in demand internationally as both a soloist and as a chamber musician. She has been marked out as a pianist of exceptional gifts, performing with many of the world’s leading orchestras, and has received widespread critical acclaim for her interpretations. Katya is a Professor of Piano at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Finghin Collins is One of Ireland’s most successful musicians. Following initial lessons with his sister Mary, he studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with John O’Conor and at the Geneva Conservatoire with Dominique Merlet. Winner of the RTÉ Musician of the Future Competition in 1994 and the Classical Category at the National Entertainment Awards in Ireland in 1998, he went on to take first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 1999. Since then he has continued to enjoy a flourishing international career that takes him all over Europe and the United States, as well to the Far East and Australia.

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that ‘Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power… soulful lyricism… unsentimental expressivity.’ Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, Montero has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras to date, is a frequent recitalist and chamber musicians, an award-winning and bestselling recording artist and a composer. Winner of the 4th International Beethoven Award, Montero is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall.

Described by Gramophone magazine as ‘one of the finest British pianists of his generation’, Charles Owen has enjoyed an extensive international career performing a wide ranging repertoire to outstanding critical acclaim. Charles Owen is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School in London and was appointed Steinway & Sons UK Ambassador in 2016.

Kathryn Stott, recognised as one of Britain’s most versatile and imaginative musicians, is International Chair at the RNCM and a Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Maintaining a keen interest in contemporary music, Kathryn has had many works written for her. She has also been the artistic vision behind several major festivals and concert series in the United Kingdom and in Italy, establishing a reputation as an astute programmer. She is the Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

London-born composer Sally Beamish studied viola at the RNCM with Patrick Ireland, and in Detmold with Bruno Giuranna, and was a founder member of the Raphael Ensemble. She also performed regularly with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the London Sinfonietta, and was principal viola in the London Mozart Players and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.