French Impressions

Catherine Milledge was born in Monmouthshire. She studied Classics and English at Jesus College, Oxford and after graduating with a first joined the Piano Accompaniment course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Here she received a distinction for her post-graduate diploma, and subsequently a MMus degree in performance as a solo pianist; her studies were assisted by grants from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Sir Henry Richardson Awards. She went on to win the Birmingham Accompanist of the Year award in 2001 as well as prizes for accompaniment in the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and the Royal Overseas League.

Since then Catherine has performed regularly as an accompanist of both singers and instrumentalists and in larger chamber groups. She has given recitals in venues including Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room as well as for music festivals and societies around the country.
In this concert, she plays pieces from Debussy's Estampes (Pagodes, i) Pagodes, La soirée dans Grenade, Jardins sous la pluie; Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin; and rarities by Lili Boulanger and Germaine Tailleferre. If you know this early 20th-century period of French music, you will not want to miss this feast of the sensual and the spectacular!

Host or Publisher Andrew Wilson-Dickson