Kathryn Stott

Kathryn Stott (born 10 December 1958) is an English classical pianist who performs as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Her specialities include the English and French classical repertoire, contemporary classical music and the tango. She is a professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and has organised several music festivals and concert series.

Grove Music Online describes Stott's playing as "marked by a vivid sense of immediacy and personal communication."

Early life and education Stott was born in Nelson, Lancashire. She attended the Yehudi Menuhin School, where her teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Marcel Ciampi, and Vlado Perlemuter. She then studied at the Royal College of Music with Kendall Taylor.

Performance and recording career Stott's career as a soloist was launched after she gained fifth place in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1978. Her London début was at the Purcell Room the same year. Her close musical relationship with Fitkin has led to 8 World premieres. Since the mid-1990s, she has also been interested in tango and other Latin dance music, which she describes as "primitive music, hard to place, both abrasive and tender".

Stott first met her long-time collaborator, the noted American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, in 1978 when she "discovered a Chinese man playing the cello" in her flat after returning from holiday. (Ma had rented the flat from Stott's flat-mate, violinist Nigel Kennedy, without realising that it was shared.

Artistic direction Stott has been the artistic director of several major festivals and concert series. In 1995 she organised a Fauré festival in Manchester to mark the composer's 150th anniversary.

She directed two major piano festivals at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester in 2000 and 2003, establishing her reputation as an astute programmer.

In 1998, Stott directed a concert series "Out of the Shadows" with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, featuring two neglected female composers, Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn. Her work here involved programming over 100 works each festival, instigating commissions and bringing together 45 musicians from Australia and the international community.

Teaching Kathryn Stott is professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Also Kathryn Stott lives in Manchester, has a daughter, Lucy, and enjoys being in the countryside with her working cocker spaniel, Archie. www.kathrynstott.com

Partial discography

Most recent recordings include:

2020 Songs of Comfort and Hope Various Yo-Yo Ma SONY Classical 19439822372

2020 Schumann and Brahms Christian Poltera BIS 2167

2015 Arc of Life Bach, Debussy, Sollima Yo-Yo Ma SONY 8875-10316-2

2015 Solitaires Ravel, Messiaen etc BIS 2148

2013 Tine Various Tine Thing-Helseth EMI 50999 416471 2

2013 Barber Cello Concerto Christian Poltera BIS 1827

2012 Korngold Piano Quintet Doric String Quartet CHAN 10707