Murray Mclachlan

Biography

Murray McLachlan is a British concert pianist, educator, and recording artist, born in Dundee, Scotland, on January 6, 1965. He began his musical education at Chetham’s School of Music and later studied at Cambridge University. His mentors included renowned pianists Ronald Stevenson, David Hartigan, Ryszard Bakst, Peter Katin, and Norma Fisher.

Since his professional debut in 1986 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Sir Alexander Gibson, McLachlan has gained international acclaim for his intelligent and sensitive interpretations. He has performed as a soloist with most leading UK orchestras and has toured all five continents. His extensive repertoire includes over 40 concertos and 25 recital programmes. Notably, he has performed the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle seven times and has given first performances of works by composers such as Martin Butler, Ronald Stevenson, Charles Camilleri, and Michael Parkin. McLachlan has an extensive discography, with over 40 commercial recordings. His recordings of Russian composers like Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, and Shchedrin have received critical acclaim, including full star ratings and ‘rosette’ status in the Penguin Guide to CDs. In 2020, he recorded the complete piano works of Edward Gregson for Naxos, and in 2023, he released a five-CD box set of Geoffrey Allen’s complete piano sonatas.

In addition to his performance career, McLachlan is a dedicated educator. He has been Head of Keyboard at Chetham’s School of Music since 1997 and is a Professor of Piano at the Royal Northern College of Music. He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Chetham’s International Summer School and Festival for Pianists, Europe’s largest summer school devoted exclusively to the piano.