Angela Hewitt

Acclaimed Canadian-British classical pianist Angela Hewitt was born in Ottawa, Ontario on July 26, 1958. She is best known for a repertoire that includes her interpretations of the works of J.S. Bach. The daughter of Godfrey Hewitt, a British-born organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa from 1931 to 1980, she began studying piano at the age of three. She then learned violin, the flute and dance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (1964-1973), where she gave her first recital at the age of nine. In 1975, Angela Hewitt won both the Chopin Young Pianists’ Competition in Buffalo, New York and a Bach competition in Washington, D.C. Four years later, she placed third in the Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland, Ohio. After winning the CBC Canadian Radio Competition in 1978 and the Dino Ciani Competition in Milan, Italy in 1980, Angela Hewitt recieved an honorable mention at the X International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland in 1980. Her first prize at the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition in 1985 led to her signing with Deutsche Grammophon and releasing Bach: English Suite No. 6 BWV 811 • 4 Duets BWV 802-805 • Italian Concerto BWV 971 • Toccata BWV 911 (1986). Angela Hewitt switched to the Hyperion label in 1994 and released albums such as Bach: The Six Partitas (1997), Angela Hewitt Plays Messiaen (1998), Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (1998) and Book 2 (1999), Bach: Goldberg Variations (2000), Bach: The Toccatas (2002), Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Music (2002), Bach: The Keyboard Concertos (2005) and several volumes of her Couperin Keyboard Music series which focused on the works of François Couperin. In 2005, Hyperion Records released the comprehensive 15 CD collection Bach. While still known for her Bach interpretations, she began to expand her repertoire to include works by Rameau, Scarlatti, Mozart, Ravel, Debussy, Fauré, Chabrier, Schumann, Liszt, and Beethoven. Angela Hewitt collaborated with Finnish conductor Hannu-Lintu for some chamber music recordings including Schumann: Piano Concerto (2012), Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 17 & 27 (2013) and Nos. 22 & 24 (2014), and Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie (2014). In 2021, she released Love Songs, which included musical pieces composed by Schumann, Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gluck, De Falla, Mahler, Grieg, and Gershwin. In late 2022, Angela Hewitt released Mozart: Piano Sonatas K279-284 & 309. Appointed an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2006, Angela Hewitt was elevated to the rank of Companion of the Order of Canada in 2015.

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