Barry Douglas

Barry Douglas continues to enjoy a major international solo career which has developed since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. In 1999 he founded Camerata Ireland, an all Irish chamber orchestra with players from both Northern and Southern Ireland to celebrate "the wealth of Irish musical talent" and he continues as Artistic Director of the Clandeboye Festival, Ireland, founded in 2004 and the International Piano Festival, Manchester.

He will perform this season with the Dresden Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra to name a few.

In 2006/07, highlights included concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin, Seattle Symphony/Gerry Schwarz, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra/Lawrence Foster amongst others as well as touring internationally in recital. In Autumn 2006, Barry returned to the UK for a recital at the Wigmore Hall as part of the BBC Lunchtime Series having performed in the same series last season at LSO St. Luke’s and was featured as a BBC Radio 3 "Artist of the Week".

Barry has recorded extensively over the years and in the last three years has recorded all the Beethoven Concertos with Camerata Ireland with the final disc released this autumn. His recording of the Reger Concerto coupled with the Strauss Burleske with Marek Janowski and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for BMG was awarded the Diapson d’Or.

As Music Director of Camerata Ireland, Barry tours regularly Europe and the US and November 2006 marked their first "International Series". It is the only all-Irish arts organization to have joint patronage from HM The Queen and the President of Ireland.

As well as conducting his own orchestra, Barry enjoys play/directing other groups and made his successful début with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2006/07 and in 2007/08 with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. Next season he will play/direct with I Pommerigi di Milano.

Barry first studied the piano in Belfast and at 16 had lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, a pupil of Emil von Sauer - a pupil of Liszt. In London he studied at the Royal College of Music with John Barstow for four years and studied privately with Maria Curcio, herself a pupil of Arthur Schnabel, before going on to study with the Russian pianist Yvegeny Malinin in Paris. He also studied conducting with Marek Janowski and Jerzy Semkov in Paris.

Barry received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2002 New Year’s Honours List for services to music.