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British pianist and conductor Howard Shelley is a regular contributor to the London Mozart Players ensemble and has recorded a long series of Romantic works rarely performed by his contemporaries. Born in London, England on March 9, 1950, he learnt piano with teacher Vera Yelverton at Highgate School and went on to study with Kendall Taylor at the Royal College of Music, where he was awarded first prize. After a debut performance at the BBC Proms under Michael Tilson Thomas, he toured the world and performed with renowned conductors. In 1983, in five recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, he was the first musician to perform the complete piano works of Rachmaninov, a composer to whom he devoted his first recordings to. After beginning his conducting career in 1985, Howard Shelley led the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra in Sweden (1990-1992). At the same time, he began a close and fruitful collaboration with the London Mozart Players, which he led from the piano for a series of concerto recordings, before becoming Music Director in 2015. Under contract to the Chandos label, he has expanded his repertoire with several programs devoted to British composers such as Alwyn, Bridge, Howells, Rubbra, Scott, Carwithen, Vaughan Williams, and Michael Tippett, in addition to other albums dedicated to Chopin, Mendelssohn, Gershwin, Korngold, Hummel and Messiaen. In the 2000s, he took part in the Hyperion label's project to promote little-played or little-recorded composers through The Romantic Piano Concerto series. The pianist's contribution includes a large number of works by Moscheles, Herz, Kalkbrenner, Taubert, Thalberg, Godard, Czerny, Elmas, and Schmitt, supported by ensembles such as the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra. A prolific studio pianist, Howard Shelley has also recorded complete symphonic scores by Spohr and sonatas by Clementi. In 2009, the musician was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
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