Biography

A finalist of The 18th International Robert Schumann Competition Zwickau and Semi-Finalist of the XX Santander International Piano Competition Paloma O’ Shea, Callum Mclachlan, 24, has been described as ‘A born Schumann player’ with a ‘magical sense of colour and extraordinary technical prowess’ (July 2019, London recital). He was born into a family of musicians and first started piano lessons with his father at the age of 7, and entered Chetham’s School of Music at age 11, where he studied with Russian pianist and pedagogue Dina Parakhina. He was awarded the highest diploma from Trinity College – the FTCL, in his final year. He studied under Professor Claudius Tanski for Bachelors at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.

He is now studying for Masters with Professor Jacques Rouvier in the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and Professor Claudio Martinez Mehner in Cologne.

Most recently he was a finalist of the Royal Over Seas League Piano Competition in London, and was
nominated for International Classical Music Classeek Award. In 2023 he was named as the only pianist selected for the renowned ‘Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben mit dem Dinorah Varsi-Stipendium, which supports him with his musical solo career.

He has performed at many of the most important concert venues throughout the UK, Europe, and USA, including Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Wien Konzerthaus, Pereda Hall Santander, London’s Steinway
Hall, St James Piccadilly and Manchester’s Bridgewater and Stoller Hall. Recently he performed with the renowned
ensemble Casals Quartet.
He made his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016, performed works of Benjamin Britten in
Steinway Hall London, Liszt’s 2nd Piano Concerto with Paul Mann and CSO at RNCM Concert Hall, which he recently repeated at the Turner Sims Concert Hall in Southampton in March 2020 and Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin at The Bridgewater Hall. He receives repeat re-engagements at these leading venues and festivals across the UK. In 2019, he made his New York recital debut, performing works of Beethoven, Brahms and Percy Grainger, a recital programme he performed at the newly opened Stoller Hall in Manchester, to critical acclaim. He was recently personally invited by Pascal Nemirowski to perform in the Young Artist Series in the RBC Birmingham Piano Festival. He has played in numerous masterclasses with Stephen Kovacevich, Jacques Rouvier, Christopher Elton, Grigory Gruzmann, Markus Groh, Dmitri Alexeev, Andrei Gavrilov, Stephen Hough, and Boris Berman. Most recently, he made a recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata at the Universitat Mozarteum Salzburg, in collaboration with G. Henle Verlag for Beethoven 250. Recent highlights of the past season include performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Sheffield Chamber Orchestra, numerous solo recitals in London, Vienna and Manchester, and Mozart’s ‘Jeunehomme’ Concerto arranged for Piano and String Quartet with students from the Royal College of Music in London.

He has won 1st prizes in the Welsh International Piano Competition, The Scottish International Piano Competition, the RNCM Chopin Competition as well as a finalist of the EPTA Piano Competiton. He has recieved support from the most renowned British Musical Institutions, including the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Hattori Foundation. He is a prize-winner of the Musical Odyssey Talent Unlimited Prize, and a Talent Unlimited Artist. 

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