Jayson Gillham

Jayson Gillham, an Australian pianist born in 1986 in Dalby, Queensland, has transformed his early recognition as a child prodigy into a steadily expanding career across Australia and Europe. Piano lessons began for him at age four, followed soon by a debut performance of a Bach minuet at the local Dalby Eisteddfod festival, where he captured first prize in his age section upon turning seven. Lessons commenced that year with an instructor in Toowoomba, an hour distant, and at fourteen he began commuting to Brisbane for work with Leah Horowitz. A semifinal placement at the Sydney International Piano Competition prepared him for enrollment at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, where he completed his studies in 2007. He then relocated to London and entered a master’s program with Christopher Elton. Recognition arrived in 2012 as Commonwealth Musician of the Year, accompanied by prizes at the International Chopin Piano Competition, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the Leeds International Piano Competition. First prize and broad attention followed his 2014 performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 at the Montreal International Music Competition.

Orchestral collaborations have included the Sydney Symphony under Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Melbourne Symphony under Benjamin Northey, several leading English ensembles, the Nashville Symphony, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and the Wuhan Philharmonic. Recitals have taken place at Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, City Recital Hall in Sydney, and the Melbourne Recital Centre. His recording debut appeared in 2016 on Australia’s ABC Classics label with a program of works by Bach, Schubert, and Chopin. Additional releases on ABC Classics have featured his accounts of the Medtner Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2. Gillham resides in London.