Hailed as a rising star by the magazine International Piano, Scottish pianist Christina Lawrie has performed as soloist in live BBC Radio 3 and Radio Scotland broadcasts, in the Grieg Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and in solo recitals for Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham Music Festival, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, St. George’s, Bristol and Perth Concert Hall. She has performed for music clubs spanning nearly all of the British Isles, from the Orkney Islands to the Channel Islands.
As a member of the Sutherland Duo with violinist Harriet Mackenzie, Christina held the EMS Chamber Music Residency 2010-12. The Sutherland Duo has just recorded a debut album of music by Grieg, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, thanks to the generosity of Creative Scotland and a private donor. This recording follows on from Christina’s solo CD, which features music by Brahms, Carl Vine and Rachmaninov. The CD was produced by the wonderful John Fraser, Philip Hobbs and Julia Thomas, and funded by Creative Scotland, Keir Smart and Pollok House Arts Society.
Christina’s Wigmore Hall debut recital was praised by Musical Opinion for its “astute intelligence and warmth of spirit”. She made her South Bank debut in the Park Lane Group Young Artists Series. The Observer praised her “formidable intellect and boundless technique…Fantastic playing“, and Musical Opinion described her as “a very gifted young player…“
As a result of this recital, when another PLG Young Artist dropped out of a Purcell Room recital, Christina was asked to step in. Musical Pointers remarked of her performance “In a few weeks and by special request she had learnt the complete programme already scheduled for an indisposed PLG Young Artist. That included Tippett’s rhapsodic and elusive 4th sonata, played from memory with complete assurance and remarkable aplomb; an astonishing feat of professionalism.” Consequently she was also invited to give a recital for the South Bank Centre’s prestigious Fresh Young Musicians’ Platform.
Christina has won a host of accolades on a national and international level. She was a finalist in the Royal Overseas League Piano Competition in London, the Madrid International Piano Competition “ Compositores de España” and a prizewinner at the Marsala International Piano Competition. At the age of 17 she was a prizewinner in the National Mozart Competition and a runner-up in Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Platform.
Christina’s studies were funded by numerous generous patrons including the Nicholas Boas Foundation, Lethendy Trust, Cross Trust, ESU, Hope Scott Trust, Inches Carr Trust, Leverhulme Foundation, Laura Ashley Foundation, Musicians Benevolent Fund, Pollok House Arts Society and the Tay Charitable Trust. She won numerous prizes at the RCM and the RAM, including the Academy’s Christian Carpenter Postgraduate Piano Recital Prize, and the Friends of the Royal Academy of Music/Mortimer Career Development Award. She has received generous support from the Scottish Arts Council and Creative Scotland, and won a Dewar Award, Scotland’s accolade for emerging artists. Christina is very grateful to all her patrons and sponsors, and, in an effort to give back to the community, has given fundraising performances for various good causes including Cash For Kids, Dundee Disabled Children, The Rotary Club and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. She also helped to raise funds for the restoration of a grand piano owned by the state-run Malories Primary School, Brent, London.
Christina was a pupil of Jean Hutchison at the Music School of Douglas Academy in Glasgow. She went on to study at Chetham’s School of Music before reading Music at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. Subsequently the Royal College of Music awarded her a Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship, enabling her to study with the celebrated pianist Yonty Solomon. Christina was also privileged to undertake further study with Vanessa Latarche at the RAM and privately with the eminent pedagogues Sergei Babayan and Joan Havill.