Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva are co-Artistic Directors of the London Piano Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year at Kings Place from 9-12 October. They will perform solo in the Opening Night concert (9 October) and together in the Two Piano Gala (11 October). Ticket link is: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/london-piano-festival/
Looking back to 2016, what was your founding vision for the London Piano Festival, and how has it evolved over the past decade?
Charles:
When we started the London Piano Festival, we were very keen to present as many distinguished pianists (and maybe some who were less well-known!) who we felt really deserved a platform. We wanted to bring pianists together, and that’s at the heart of what we do – the collaboration. We have always been keen to showcase as many different styles of piano as possible, right from Baroque through to the great core Classical/Romantic repertoire, and of course into the 20th Century and new commissions from the present day. We also wanted to incorporate spoken-word as well – our first-ever concert was a lecture recital with Alfred Brendel discussing Liszt followed by Dénes Várjon playing Liszt.
So, our vision for the Festival is and always has been about celebrating the instrument, showcasing a range and depth of artists, and making the experience fascinating and enjoyable for the audience, with something for everyone.
This anniversary year features three world premieres—how do you approach commissioning new works that stand alongside the classical canon?
Katya:
We love commissioning new works, and it’s always because of a personal connection. All the commissions we’ve done so far have been with composers whose music we admire, and who we know personally and have sometimes collaborated with previously. Looking at our commissions this year, for example – Stephen Hough is one of our Festival patrons; we greatly admire Elena Langer’s music – she’s an old friend of mine; and Cheryl Francis-Hoad is a school friend of Charles’!
As both performers and curators, how do you balance your artistic instincts with the practical demands of programming a festival of this scale?
Katya:
Of course, balancing practical demands with our artistic visions is sometimes challenging. It took us some time to learn this new skill of being more practical! And sometimes it’s very intense and difficult to think about performing whilst also organising, contacting artists and planning programmes. Programmes also must be attractive to the audience – we need to be aware of selling tickets and making concerts ‘sellable’ (as much as we don’t like that word!). So, it took us some time, but with help from the wonderful Kings Place team, who are very experienced in organizing events, I feel that our programming has improved year on year.
Collaboration is central to the Festival—what do you think pianists uniquely discover about each other, and themselves, through duo and multi-piano performance?
Charles:
Collaboration is absolutely at the heart of what we do. It’s essential. We’ve both played (as so many of our colleagues have) a huge amount of chamber music – with strings and woodwind, brass, and even with singers in song. You could argue playing a concerto is a similar experience as well. But there’s nothing like playing together (whether as two pianists on two pianos, or two pianists on one piano) to really discover the personality of that pianist – their touch, the way they pedal, the way they voice, the way sound works for them.
Over the last 10 years in our annual Two Piano Gala (and in our Schubertiade event in 2022) it’s been a joy to link up with Katya, who I obviously know so well, but also with a huge range of pianists – Kathryn Stott, Imogen Cooper, Stephen Kovacevich, Danny Driver to name just a few. You discover something unique about how the artist breathes and what their priorities are in rehearsal, and it’s a very special collaboration. I think that that’s really what one learns from playing together with another pianist, especially a really great pianist!
With artists like Ingrid Fliter and Stephen Hough joining the stage, what does it mean to you to bring together such a wide spectrum of pianistic voices?
Katya:
We’re absolutely thrilled with the wide range of artists who have joined us for the last nine years of our festival. We have always tried to bring together a variety of artists – some already established and well-known to the audience, some lesser-known, exciting musicians who deserve more exposure. We love all our artists and we are captivated by the playing of absolutely every single person who takes part.
Ten years on, what do you hope audiences take away from this milestone Festival, and what are your dreams for the next decade?
Charles:
With this year’s festival, I truly believe that we’ve brought an enormous range to the four days of concerts and events. I hope audiences who love the piano will be keen to investigate more of the recordings or videos of the artists who play the repertoire they’ve listened to, or if they hear a particular work that they’ll think, “wow, I’d like to get to know more about that composer”.
I also hope those who play the piano will be inspired to dig deeper and tap into more resources and just feel genuinely uplifted and inspired and have their spirits raised and minds opened by the 2025 edition of the Festival.
Looking forward 10 years from now (wow, a long way to think ahead!), we’d like to widen the range of artists we can have, and possibly even spread more concerts throughout the year! We are always looking for new ideas, new collaborations, and exciting original creative voices. So, ultimately, the brief for the next decade is to bring the finest talents of all generations to London and to the beautiful, intimate space of King’s Place.