Jennifer Walsh
‘A splendid accompanist’
Gramophone Magazine
Jennifer Walsh (née Hughes) is a collaborative pianist and teacher of piano.
She has given recitals at venues including Wigmore Hall, Sala Verdi Milano, Oslo Opera House, Moscow's Rachmaninov Hall and Xinghai Conservatory, China. She has featured a number of times on BBC Radio 3, notably the In Tune programme and BBC Proms Plus. Jennifer is in the process of recording a series of discs profiling British cello and piano repertoire. Recorded with leading cellist Lionel Handy, 'Ireland, Delius & Bax: Cello Sonatas' and the following three 'British Cello Works' volumes have been released by Lyrita to critical acclaim. The discs include premeire recordings of unpublished works by Ethel Smyth, Doreen Carwithen and Cecil Armstrong Gibbs among well-known sonatas by Britten and Bridge.
She has recently recorded several works with trumpet soloist, Imogen Whitehead. Much of this repertoire was written especially for the pair by contemporary composers including Sally Beamish and Barry Mills.
Jennifer served for several years on the faculty of the Royal College of Music, where she specialised in coaching and accompanying repertoire for piano and strings. She has collaborated with some of the world’s most talented young performers, helping them achieve prize-winning performances at international competitions. She was class pianist for Maxim Vengerov in delivering his masterclass series for young violinists at the Royal College, as well as serving on the faculty of Aldeburgh Young Musicians, New Virtuosi International (UK & Italy), Festival Quattro Corde (Italy) and Voksenåsen Summer Academy (Norway).
Jennifer was a DfES scholar at Wells Cathedral School, studying under Hilary Coates, and later graduated from the Royal College of Music, studying under John Blakely and Roger Vignoles. During this period she was awarded several prizes for accompaniment, including the 2013 Royal Over-Seas League Accompanist Prize.