Hugh Mackay
Thursday 1st September 1pm
Free Lunchtime Concert
Room: Pianodrome Ampitheatre
Hugh Mackay Solo Cello
Programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) - Suite for Solo Cello No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourrées I & II
Gigue
Carlo Alfredo Piatti (1822 – 1901) - Caprice in C major ‘Maestoso’, Op. 25 No. 7
György Ligeti (1923 - 2006) - Sonata for Solo Cello (1948/53)
Dialogo: Adagio, rubato, cantabile
Capriccio: Presto con slancio
Scottish cellist Hugh Mackay (b. 2000) is an exciting, versatile young artist whose musical life is denoted by an eclectic range of performing styles, repertoire and collaborations. He has performed in many leading venues in the UK and abroad, including the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Konzerthaus Dortmund, and the Palace of Versailles.
Hugh was awarded the 2022 Suggia Gift from Help Musicians UK. As a scholarship holder with the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund, Hugh made his professional concerto debut with the Bremer Philharmoniker under the direction of their chief conductor Marko Letonja, with highly acclaimed performances in Die Glocke Bremen and the Konzerthaus Dortmund in 2021. Hugh also recently collaborated with leading violist Lawrence Power as a member of Collegium for his Wigmore Hall Residency.
An avid chamber musician, Hugh has performed at the Perth Festival of the Arts as a Cross Trust Artist of the Year, West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival, NUME Festival, London Contemporary Music Festival, Southwell Music Festival, Kinnordy Chamber Music Festival, Petworth Festival, Brighton Early Music Festival, North Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Hatfield Festival and Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival (Lucca). In 2021 he performed alongside fellow emerging artists and the Doric Quartet at the quartet’s festival, Mendelssohn on Mull, bringing an exciting variety of repertoire to communities around the island.
During his undergraduate studies, Hugh was the 1st Prizewinner of the 2020 May Mukle Cello Sonata Prize alongside longtime collaborator, Junyan Chen, 1st Prizewinner of the 2021 Harold Craxton Prize and 1st Prizewinner of the 2019 Isaacs Pirani Piano Trio Competition alongside colleagues Manuel De Almeida-Ferrer and Wouter Valvekens.
Hugh is indebted to many esteemed cellists for their guidance and influence. He has participated in masterclasses with cellists such as Gary Hoffman, Sung Won Yang, Antonio Lysy, Alban Gerhardt, Alisa Weilerstein, Steven Isserlis, Natasha Brofsky, David Watkin, Philip Higham, Steven Doane, Colin Carr, Bonian Tian and Adrian Brendel.
Since 2021 Hugh has been working with conductor John Wilson and Sinfonia of London on several recording and concert projects, including their concert at the 2022 BBC Proms. He also works regularly with the Aurora Orchestra (with whom he also performed at the 2022 BBC Proms) and the Britten Sinfonia. In 2019, Hugh was part of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Experience Scheme, working with the orchestra since 2019 including concerts at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. He has worked with many leading conductors such as Trevor Pinnock, Thomas Adès, Edward Gardner, John Wilson, Masaako Suzuki, Nicholas Collon, and Ryan Wigglesworth.
While a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Hugh was exposed to the leading British venues and recorded works by Strauss and Holst for Chandos Records. In 2017 he played at the Festival Berlioz in La Côte-Saint-André, France with the NYO, playing Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring' under the direction of Gerry Cornelius.
Hugh received his formative education at St. Mary’s Music School (Edinburgh) and currently studies with Hannah Roberts and Jonathan Manson at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he holds the Yadegar-Hall Award and was the recipient of a Regency Award and the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Award. He currently plays on a fine Italian cello by Giovanni Celoniatus c. 1740 and a bow by Tubbs, on loan from the Royal Academy of Music Collection.
In addition to the support of Help Musicians UK, Hugh is generously supported by Talent Unlimited, the Cross Trust, the Waddell Trust, and Battersea United Charities. He was also a past recipient of a Dewar Arts Award and a grant from the Beatrice Huntingdon Awards.
