Simon Callaghan & Cliodna Shanahan
Biographie Simon Callaghan & Cliodna Shanahan
Simon Callaghan
Simon Callaghan performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, in parallel with a highly successful career as a recording artist. He appears regularly in the UK’s major concert halls, and on tours to Asia, North America and Europe. Callaghan’s recent release of Bennett Concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Martin Yates was Gramophone Editors’ Choice, and received critical acclaim, notably from Presto Music: “his technique is seamless in its command, but always in service to the music so that the fireworks are integral to the musical communication rather than being the focus. It is his commitment to the substance of whatever he is playing that makes Callaghan a persuasive advocate of a wealth of under-appreciated repertoire”.
As concerto soloist, Simon Callaghan has recently collaborated with the Ulster Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen, with conductors including Jac van Steen, Martin Yates, Modestas Pitrėnas and Martyn Brabbins. Recital partners have included Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jack Liebeck, Coco Tomita, Nicholas Daniel, Julian Bliss, Adrian Brendel, Ben Goldscheider, Feng Ning, Raphael Wallfisch, Ruth Rogers, Samuel West, Prunella Scales and Timothy West. He is also a founding member of the London Piano Quartet, joining colleagues from the renowned Piatti Quartet to showcase the repertoire for piano quartet with a particular focus on revivifying works that have fallen into obscurity.
Simon Callaghan’s distinguished and eclectic discography includes recordings for Hyperion, Somm, Nimbus and Lyrita. He has a strong profile on BBC Radio 3 and on a variety of streaming platforms, his most recent single on Apple Music with Coco Tomita surpassed 1 million streams in its first month. He is a strong social media enthusiast, using it as a form of promotion for classical music in general but seeing it as a particular tool in his advocacy of the rare and unexplored.
Callaghan’s broad repertoire encompasses the standard works of the 19th and 20th centuries and increasingly concentrates on much that is little known, examples including Bernhard Scholz, Josef Rheinberger and Carl Reinecke. A cornerstone of Simon’s work is his commitment to British music, and he has an ongoing series on Lyrita, recording world premieres of British concertos with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Callaghan has also made first recordings of the complete piano music by Rebecca Clarke, George Dyson and William Busch. He has recorded four albums for Hyperion’s celebrated The Romantic Piano Concerto series. His first disc for Hyperion, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins, formed part of his PhD at the Royal Northern College of Music and was praised by BBC Radio 3’s Andrew McGregor: “I have nothing but praise for the performances... impressive pianism”.
In 2020, Simon recorded L’Histoire de Babar with actor Miriam Margolyes. The album received five stars from The Independent, reviewer Michael Church commenting that: “here, thanks to Harry Potter actor Miriam Margolyes’s artistry and Simon Callaghan’s excellent pianism, is Poulenc’s delightful musical response… It lasts just 30 minutes, but my god does it resonate.” Simon Callaghan’s reputation and experience in chamber music led to his appointment as Artistic Director at London’s celebrated Conway Hall, only the sixth incumbent since the founding of the Sunday Concerts series in 1887, and from October 2026 he is also Artistic Director of the Penkhull Festival of Music and Art in Stoke-on-Trent. He is Professor of Piano at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was elected a Steinway Artist in 2012.
Cliodna Shanahan
Irish pianist Cliodna Shanahan began playing the piano when she was five years old. She attended the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey from 1997-2002. She performed her first concerto at age eleven; subsequent concerto performances have included performances with the Vietnemese NSO and the Guildford SO. Cliodna has performed in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Purcell Room.
Competition successes include multiple first prizes at Siemens Feis Ceoil, Dublin, Fitzwilton Trust, Jellinek and Arts Council of Ireland Awards, and the Belfast Classical Music Bursary. In July 2006, Cliodna was the recipient of the Sarah Mundlak Memorial Award for piano, awarded to the pianist who achieves the highest final recital mark at the Royal College of Music. Cliodna regularly performs chamber music and has recently embarked on a piano duo partnership which has become an integral part of her performing schedule. She has performed on television and radio and is featured on a Young Pianist Foundation CD recorded live at The Hague. Cliodna is currently studying with Professors Ruth Nye, Noriko Kawai and David Graham at the Royal College of Music, London. She is most grateful to the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaion for their generous support.
For City Showcase 2007, Cliodna performed with Aoife Nic Athlaoich.
The musicians playing are students and graduates of the Royal College of Music. Graduates of the RCM are now in every major opera company and orchestra in this country, and many enjoy international careers. The RCM's musical activities include opera productions, orchestral concerts with conductors including Bernard Haitink and Sir Roger Norrington, workshops, masterclasses, chamber music concerts and recitals, many of which are open to the public.
