Nicholas Ashton

Additional Info:

I am a highly experienced pianist with over 45 years of professional work in the media of solo and collaborative performance, assessment and examination, especially undergraduate, postgraduate and professional performance.

I was educated at Chetham’s School, Manchester (1973-1980), the Royal Northern College of Music (1980-1985), the University of Edinburgh (1992-1994) and on postgraduate scholarships at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique Geneva (1985-1986) and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt-am-Main (1986-1988).

My two principal teachers were Renna Kellaway (Chetham’s and RNCM) and Joachim Volkmann (Frankfurt) and I also received valuable instruction in masterclasses and coaching with Vlado Perlemuter, Jorge Bolet, David Wilde, Joaquin Achucarro, Pierre Laurent Aimard, Rainer Hoffmann, Roger Raphael, Malcolm Binns, Clifton Helliwell and Eli Goren. I also studied composition (including classes with Richard Rodney Bennett and Gordon Crosse), harp (with Jean Bell) and harpsichord (with David Francis) during my school studies.

Throughout the 1980s, I performed extensively, building a solo career in Europe. I resumed public playing in 1993, after encouragement from Murray Perahia and the Schenkerian analysts Carl Schachter and William Rothstein at the Britten Pears Centre for Advanced Studies, and later from Menahem Pressler at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada.

Since then, I have performed and recorded extensively for the BBC, in Germany, Lithuania, the USA and Italy. A highly-praised recording of the complete piano works of the Scottish composer Robert Crawford was released by Delphian Records in 2008. I performed over 90 separate solo and chamber programmes at the Hamburg Chamber Arts Association, and many times as soloist and as chamber musician, including with the Edinburgh Quartet and in piano duo with Andrew Wilde, Lauryna Sableviciute (specialising in contemporary repertoire for two pianos) and Sasa Gerzelj.

As a performer, I have an extensive solo and chamber repertoire, developed over a portfolio career in combination with teaching and academic leadership.

I currently combine a busy teaching schedule as Senior Tutor in Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) and at the University of Edinburgh. I was also a Specialist External Assessor (SEA) for Keyboard at RCS (2011-2020) and External Examiner for Doctoral Progrmmes in Performance as Research (2020-2023). From 1991-2020 I fulfilled a full-time academic career as Senior Lecturer and Director of Performance Studies for the B Mus Hons degree course at Edinburgh Napier University, also as Director of Quality Assurance for the School of Arts and Creative Industries (2011-2015). I am a Senior Fellow (SFHEA) of the Higher Education Academy/Higher Advance (2018) and I was a Teaching Fellow at Napier from 2018-2020.


More extensive information about my work can be found at www.nicholasashton.com

Fees

£ 60.00 Pounds Per Hour
Fees for solo and collaborative performance are negotiated on an individual basis

Specialisms

Contemporary Music, Solo Performance, Instrumental Accompaniment, Vocal Accompaniment, Vocal Repetiteur