Piano
Annabelle Lawson has established herself as a pianist and chamber musician who exudes subtlety and vivacity in equal measure. She has performed widely, in venues including the Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall, Bridgewater Hall and Kings Place, as well as broadcasting live for BBC Radio 3 and national Australian radio. She is a passionate advocate of both new and obscure repertoire, having commissioned and premiered a large number of works with the Lawson Trio and recently performing Stanford's little-known 2nd piano concerto, as well as chamber music by Rebecca Clarke, Louis Vierne, Ye Xiaogang and Paul Juon.
Having performed recently as concerto soloist with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra in Germany, played trios in a French château, worked as a cabaret artist in the Far East, played 'Carnival of the Animals' with kangaroo impersonating dancers from Ballet Rambert and, last but not least, worn an Octopus Hat on stage for Wigmore Learning – her career is notable for its variety and versatility. Recent CD recordings include a disc of the Complete Solo Piano Works of Gordon Crosse (due for release in early 2023) and a disc of chamber music by the late David Golightly (due for release in December 2022).
Annabelle enjoys a distinguished career as a music educator. She currently teaches at Sheffield University, where she is also a collaborative pianist working with singers and instrumentalists, as well as being a Main Panel Examiner for the ABRSM. She taught piano and chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music for 10 years, while living in London and, as the Artistic Director of Chamber Music 2000, she has organised and hosted numerous education workshops and inter-school showcase concerts, in venues including the Purcell Room, Menuhin Hall and Howard Assembly Rooms. Annabelle also ran a busy 2015/16 concert series for the West Essex branch of the hugely successful Bach to Baby enterprise and has participated in outreach projects for Music in the Round, Live Music Now!, CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust and Westminster's Go Sing!.
Annabelle studied piano as a child at Chetham's School of Music, before reading music at King's College, University of Cambridge. After completing her BA she undertook a one-year BMus, for which she gained a Distinction, during which time she researched the social role of the Argentine tango in Paris in the years preceding World War One. She then pursued postgraduate tuition in chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music, who went on to award her piano trio a two-year Junior Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellowship. Annabelle's teachers have included her father, Peter Lawson, Ronan O'Hora and Philip Fowke. In 2015-16, Annabelle also completed a graduate diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Minster Centre, London and she has a keen interest in student mental health and wellbeing.
Annabelle lives in Sheffield, on the edge of the Peak District, with her husband and two small sons. In her spare time, she enjoys a daily Ashtanga yoga practice (virtuous!) and cake baking (not so virtuous!).