Paul Lewis is now well established as one of the most sought after artists of his generation, appearing regularly in recital, chamber music, and as a concerto soloist at major musical venues and festivals around the world. He attended Chetham's School of Music and the Guildhall, studying with Ryszard Bakst and Joan Havill, after which he received regular coaching from Alfred Brendel. After successes at the 1994 World Piano Competition and the Tunbridge Wells International Young Artists competition, Steinway & Sons chose him to become their 1000th registered Steinway Artist in 1997. He was selected by the BBC for their inaugural “New Generation” artist scheme in 1999, and from 2000-2002 was a Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London. This season he was the Wigmore Hall’s selected artist on the prestigious ECHO “Rising Stars” Scheme.

In recent seasons he has given recitals at the Aldeburgh, Bath, Cheltenham, Chester, Edinburgh, Lichfield, and Perth Festivals, and internationally at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Luzern Piano Festival, the Klavier Festival Ruhr, and the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival. He has also given recitals at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Queen’s Hall Edinburgh, and Turner Sims Concert Hall Southampton, and many concerts for music clubs and societies. He has a particularly strong relationship with the Wigmore Hall where he has appeared no fewer than 9 times during the last 2 seasons, and will perform 8 times this season alone. Equally in demand as a chamber musician, he has appeared with, amongst others, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Collins, Ernst Kovacic, Quatuor Sine Nomine, Leopold String Trio, the Haffner Wind Ensemble, Katherine Gowers, and Adrian Brendel.

Paul Lewis has performed concertos with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, BBC Scottish Symphony, the Hallé, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Wiener Kammerphilharmonie, and the Kölner Kammerorchester, with conductors such as Mark Elder, Marin Alsop, Ivor Bolton, Richard Hickox, Emmanuel Krivine, Alexander Polianichko, Joseph Swensen, Vassily Sinaisky, and Gerard Schwarz.

This season has seen him make his debut in New York, both at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center, at the Musikverein Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Chan Center in Vancouver. The season’s focal point has been a 4 programme Schubert Piano Sonata Series presented at the Wigmore Hall, Turner Sims Concert Hall, CBSO Centre Birmingham, Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, Tonbridge Music Club and Music at Dingley, which has received ecstatic critical praise. The final concert in the Wigmore Hall series was recorded by BBC Radio 3. He has also appeared with the Hallé and Mark Elder, both in the UK and at the Musikverein in Vienna, and with the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz. Later this season he returns to the BBC Proms with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Paul Daniel, performs a Schubert Sonata series at the Roque d’Antheron Festival in France, has appearances at both the Bath and Brighton festivals, makes his Norwegian debut at Risor Chamber Music Festival, his Spanish debut at the La Coruna Mozart Festival, 2 performances at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and a further 3 appearances at the Wigmore Hall.

Next season includes tours to Australia and New Zealand, recitals in London, Geneva, Lyon, Madrid, Milan and Florence, engagements with the Hallé, City of London Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, staged performances of Die Schöne Müllerin at the Frankfurt Opera, and a return to the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival.

His first recording for Harmonia Mundi (Schubert Sonatas D784 & D958) was released in the Autumn of 2001 and was met with tremendous public and critical acclaim, winning a Diapason d’Or in France, and a second Schubert disc featuring the sonatas in A (D959) and B flat (D960), is due for release in 2003. He will also record the Mozart Piano Quartets with the Leopold String Trio for Hyperion Records late this year.

Paul Lewis’s appearance on May 13, 2004 at the “Discovery Series” of the Seventh Miami International Piano Festival will mark his South Florida debut.