Morning Calm: Irena Radic

Join us for Morning Calm with Irena Radic, pianist from the Royal College of Music, who will be playing works by Rachmaninoff, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Grieg, Shostakovich and Christian Sinding

Dates: Daily Monday - Friday

Time: 8.40-8.55am

Location: St George's Hanover Square, St George Street, W1

Morning Calm is a short piano recital beginning at 8.40am, consisting of around 10-12 minutes of music followed by a few minutes' silence for reflection and meditation before ending with brief prayers for the day ahead. You are most welcome to stay for the whole recital or if you would prefer not to stay for the Christian conclusion to leave just before the end. Morning Calm aims to offer a reflective and calm start to the day for people of any faith or none in the hustle and bustle of the West End of London.

As always admission is free.

An award-winning and versatile pianist, Irena Radić is building a reputation for her engaging programmes; she shares a diverse range of music with her audiences, from renowned masterworks to intriguing and lesser-known gems. Recent highlights include a sell-out recital in Bath featuring Rachmaninoff’s 10 Preludes op.23, on the magnificent Steinway that was selected and used by the composer himself in the 1930s, for his own performances across the UK. Irena has performed in venues including the Royal Festival Hall, St James’s Piccadilly, Wigmore Hall, The Forge, Bolivar Hall and West Road Concert Hall.

In celebration of Madeleine Dring’s centenary in 2023, Irena devised a series of concerts celebrating Dring’s life and music, with tenor Rory Carver and oboist Katherine Bryer. Other past projects have included a world premiere of Tantrum – a new work for Piano and Percussion by Nino Russell, and two performances of Bartok’s Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion. She is a founding member of Duo Ravellion with Swedish guitarist Jonatan Bougt. Together they create new arrangements for their Guitar and Piano duo: their current programme includes Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye and Shostakovich's 24 Preludes Op.34, which they have arranged with kind permission from Irina Shostakovich. She has also worked extensively with musicians including flautist Sirius Chau, violinist David López Ibáñez, cellist Deni Teo, and pianist Martin James Bartlett.

A student of Dina Parakhina and Niel Immelman, Irena completed her Master of Performance with distinction as a Cotes-Burgan scholar and holds a first-class Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the Royal College of Music, London. She is currently a Musicians' Company Young Artist and has been selected as the Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellow 2024/25. Irena was also a prize-winner at the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition, the Kendall Taylor Beethoven Competition and the Jaques Samuel JD Piano Festival. Other awards include the Teresa Carreño Piano Prize, Young Musician of the Year at Peterborough and Oundle Music Festivals, the May Edwards Memorial Prize and the Head of Junior Programmes Prize whilst a student of Lynette Stulting at the RCMJD.

Irena was a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award Holder and a Philharmonia MMSF Piano Fellow, receiving the John Mortimer Award. She has also been generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Hilda Martindale Educational Trust, the St Marylebone Educational Foundation, the Tsukanov Family Foundation, the Wolfson Foundation, and the Else and Leonard Cross Charitable Trust.

Irena also has extensive experience playing orchestral piano and celeste and has performed with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Bernard Haitink, Diego Masson, Alexander Polishchuk, Peter Stark, Richard Dickins and Tim Lines.

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