Max Pemberton is the 2023 prize winner of the Musicians’ Company Carnwath Scholarship. He first took up the piano at the age of 8, upon hearing a live performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto. He has performed  both in the UK and internationally, such as in Austria and in Poland where he appeared on a local TV station. In January 2019, Max would realise an early ambition by performing the Grieg Piano Concerto in Guildford Cathedral. He has since performed in Duke’s Hall, Milton Court concert hall and has become a regular performer at Hindhead Music Centre in Haslemere. Recently, he gave a performance of the Rachmaninov 3rd piano concerto and was a finalist in the 7th International Alkan Prize for Piano Virtuosity in Milan.

 

Max has enjoyed the opportunity to play for many distinguished pianists and pedagogues, including Pascal Nemirovsky, Norma Fischer, Peter Frankl, Joan Havill, Eugene Indjic, Noriko Ogawa, Murray McLaughlan and Paul Roberts to name a few. He now studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with professors Ronan O’Hora and Katya Apekisheva. where he was a finalist in the Guildhall Romantic prize 2 years in a row.

 

Aside from solo playing, Max has enjoyed many fruitful collaborations at the Guildhall, such as being part of an all-Bartok concert in December 2019 and a large-scale song project themed around an Ouroboros. He has recently developed a keen interest in working with contemporary composers and has been a part of large ensemble projects performing works by Matthew King and Lawrence Crane.

 

Max studies at the Guildhall under a scholarship generously donated by the Ironmongers’ Company.