Internationally regarded as the leading interpreter of the music of Dublin-born composer John Field (1782–1837), Irish pianist Míceal O'Rourke is equally at home with the full roster of great composers, and brings to his performances special insights into the music of Chopin, Debussy, and Ravel. O’Rourke graduated from University College, Dublin, and pursued his musical studies in Antwerp and Paris, where he now lives. He studied piano under Marcel Ciampi, a pupil of Debussy. Since 1976, when O’Rourke gave his first public recital in France, he has built a career as a highly respected performer, playing at major venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Philharmonia in Saint Petersburg, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, and Symphony Hall in Boston as well the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Gallery of Art.

Míċeál O’Rourke began the New Year 2010 with an acclaimed  performance of Chopin’s second piano concerto with the National Symphony of Ireland. A lifelong commitment to the music of Chopin is mirrored in the many solo recitals and concerto performances he has given. He has performed the Chopin concertos with such orchestras as the Boston Pops, St.Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Slovak and Lithuanian Philharmonics, Istanbul Symphony and others. Besides performing many times in Poland as guest of the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Warsaw he has also toured in Ireland playing both Chopin concertos with the RTENSO. On the occasion of one of his concerts at Zelazowa Wola, Chopin’s birthplace, he was awarded the prestigious Chopin medal “in recognition  of outstanding Chopin performances”. In February 2010, the Ireland Fund de France honoured him with the ‘Wild Geese Award’ for his contribution to Irish-French cultural relations.

In February he will give solo recitals at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (Debussy) and in New York (Field, Chopin, Mussorgsky), before going on to tour in Russia in early March. He will be back in Ireland to play Chopin in Sligo later in the month and will then go to perform in Madrid (Mozart, Shostakovich and Mussorgsky). In April he makes return visits to Lithuania to perform the Brahms Piano Quintet and Chopin 2^nd concerto at the National Philharmonic in Vilnius, and to Belarus where he will play Field and Chopin. Engagements later in the year include Saint Petersburg Philharmonic (Field Concerto), Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra (Chopin), and his South American début at the Chopiniana Festival in Buenos Aires. 

Míċeál O’Rourke devotes an increasing amount of time to performing chamber music and in the past two concert seasons he has performed with distinguished chamber musicians in the USA, Denmark, Lithuania, France, Israel, Ireland and Russia. His CD recordings of the concertos, Nocturnes and other solo piano music by John Field are internationally acclaimed and have won accolades such as Classic CD Award (Great Britain), Disque de l’Année du Monde de la Musique (France), and the Forty Superlative Pianists (Amazon.com)

Míċeál O’Rourke will round off the year playing an all-French recital programme which will include Debussy, and Ravel’s ‘Gaspard de la nuit’.

Sample Programmes

Please contact the Performance Programme Manager below for more information.

Reviews

"outstanding ... it is inspiring to hear a pianist reinvent the standards of the past"

Washington Phillips Collection

"O'Rourke puts the music across with wondrous efficiency and balances the piano texture impeccably ... first rate"

San Francisco Chronicle

"C'est le chantre du piano romantique"

Le Figaro (Paris)

"very special Debussy ... wondrous touch ... O'Rourke is alone among the present generation of pianists in giving such refined gloss to the sound"

Luister (The Netherlands)

"keystrokes so delicate in Debussy's Estampes ... singular poise and velvet cat's paw touch"

Washington Post

"Chopin worth waiting for ... a master pianist"

BBC Music Magazine

"unforgettable recital… applauded even in the wings."

Russiskaya Gazeta (Saint Petersburg), March 2009

"a charmer"

BBC Music Magazine, January 2010

"Chopin worth waiting for… a master pianist"

BBC Music Magazine

More Info

For further information on availability or artist fees or to discuss a booking please contact the Performance Programme Manager by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or telephone: 01 6719429.