The British pianist
John Thwaites has been active in multiple successful duos and chamber music groups. He has also had a significant career as an educator.
Thwaites studied piano in a joint program operated by Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music. He went for further study at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, with stints as well in Siena, Italy, and in the U.S. on an English-Speaking Union Scholarship. Among his teachers were
Christian Blackshaw,
Martino Tirimo,
Paul Berkowitz, Sulamita Aronovsky, and Harvey Dagul. He quickly found a place in recital seasons and, as part of a duo with bassist
Leon Bosch, won a North West Arts Young Musicians' Platform award in 1986. The pair joined forces to create the Manchester Music Group, which existed from 1986 to 1993 and specialized in innovative classical music presentations.
That was just the first of many fruitful collaborations for
Thwaites, who since the late 1980s has been one-half of a duo with cellist
Alexander Baillie. They appeared in Manchester and beyond, and released an album in the year 2000.
Thwaites has also appeared with students of English cellist Sue Lowe. He is also well known for his work with larger chamber groups, notably for his membership in the
Primrose Quartet, but also for his guest appearances with the
Brodsky,
Martinu,
Emperor,
Schidlof, and
Maggini string quartets. He has given solo recitals on British television and radio, and has been active as an educator: he headed the piano department at Christ's Hospital School in London, moving on to the post of head of piano at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His orientation toward unorthodox performances resurfaced there as he organized an all-night performance of night-related music (such as piano nocturnes).
Thwaites has appeared with
Bailie on an album of 20th century cello sonatas, as well as on the 2017 collection
The British Cello, both on the Somm label. In 2018 he backed
Primrose Quartet violinist
Suzanne Stanzeleit on an album of violin sonatas by
Elgar,
Bridge, and Ireland, released on the
Meridian label.