Duncan Honeybourne

Pianist Duncan Honeybourne has earned recognition through his interpretations and documented performances of English repertoire spanning the early twentieth century to the present day. He has also established a parallel reputation as an instructor and author on musical topics.

Born on October 27, 1977, in Weymouth within England’s Dorset county, Honeybourne displayed exceptional ability during childhood and entered the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. At age fifteen he performed a London recital and subsequently toured Britain both as concerto soloist and recitalist. Although accepted into the full Royal Academy of Music curriculum, he elected instead to attend the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, studying with Rosemarie Wright and Philip Martin. In 1998 he made his recital debuts at Symphony Hall in Birmingham and the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. He completed his studies in 2000 with first-class honors and additional awards. Honeybourne later worked with John York, Fanny Waterman, and Mikhail Kazakevich.

He has performed as recitalist and concerto soloist throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as in numerous European countries. Broadcasters have featured him regularly, among them BBC Radio 3, where he presented the complete solo piano music of Ruth Gipps across an entire week of programs, France Musique, and ABC Classic FM in Australia. Contemporary works form a significant part of his activity; some seventy pieces have been composed expressly for him, including John Joubert’s Piano Sonata No. 3, John Casken’s Tempus Plangendi, and Cecilia McDowall’s Notes from Abroad. His teaching appointments have included his former institution, where he served as Staff Pianist, together with the University of Southampton, the University of Chichester, and the Sherborne School for Girls. Articles by Honeybourne have appeared in Classical Music magazine and The Times of London, and he has delivered numerous lectures on his career as a performer on the autism spectrum. More than a dozen recordings featuring him have been released on the EM Records, Prima Facie, and Grand Piano labels; in 2021 he appeared on the Somm album Dedication: The Clarinet Chamber Music of Ruth Gipps.