Wayne Marshall appears all over the world as a virtuoso organist, solo pianist and conductor and is a familiar figure at leading festivals and symphonic series. He also gives many duo recitals and cabaret programmes and has a keen interest in education/outreach projects. His discography ranges from solo organ and solo piano to symphonic conducting and he is a renowned interpreter of the works of Gershwin, Bernstein, Ellington and other twentieth century American composers. He has recorded Gershwin's complete works for piano and orchestra with the Aalborg Symphony.

As pianist, he appears in regular duo partnerships with Kim Criswell, Tasmin Little, Natalie Clein, Ole Edvard Antonsen and Willard White. Recent appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras, as well as solo recitals in Spain, Portugal and various venues in the UK.

As organist he has appeared in many of the world's top venues. Recent seasons have included recitals at Notre Dame, Paris; the Royal Festival Hall; Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Westminster Abbey. He is organist in residence at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, where he gives a number of recitals every season.

As conductor he appears with a number of international orchestras. Highlights of recent seasons have included 'Wonderful Town' and 'Porgy and Bess' with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Ellington and Bernstein with the Vienna Symphony and a memorable Bernstein Mass with the Bremen Philharmonic. Later this season he will conduct 'West Side Story' at the Bregenz Festival, returning in 2004. Other recent appearances as conductor include the Swedish Radio Symphony orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, the orchestras of Bordeaux and Lyon and the New Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Future projects include 'Wonderful Town' with the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia, Tours with the Munich Radio Orchestra and a number of projects with various European orchestras.

Reviews

There are some people who are just so prodigiously talented that it doesn't seem fair on the rest of mankind…

Manchester Evening News

As Pianist…

Wayne Marshall was his accompanist; and this great organist's slinky, busky approach to the piano set up a teasing counterpoint to White's formality…"

Hilary Finch / The Times/ April 02 (Recital with Willard White; Barbican Centre, London)

Marshall's rhapsodizing was winsome and elegant.

Michael Manning / Dallas Globe / January 02 (Handel and Haydn Society concert. Symphony Hall, Dallas)
 

Marshall is a British pianist and impossible to pin down. He is a jazz improviser. He is an organist who plays Baroque music with period practice bands who also like the juicy French Romantic organ repertory. And he has something fresh to teach Americans about American music. In the Concerto in F he demonstrated a phenomenal technique, the fleet kind that Gershwin had.

Mark Swed / Los Angeles Times / November 1998 (Gershwin with LA Philharmonic)
 

This disc…shows it doesn't necessarily require an all-American array of talent to serve up Gershwin with an authentically" native twang. Wayne Marshall, the pianist, is British-trained, and the orchestra, which he conducts himself, is Danish. Together, though, the Gershwin they create is marvellously punchy and spontaneous in sound. Marshall's Rhapsody is particularly fine…As good a single disc introduction to Gershwin as any I have heard.

Terry Blain, Classic CD / September 1995
(Gershwin works for Piano and Orchestra / Aalborg Symphony Orchestra / Virgin Classics 561243 & 561247)

As Organist…

….Marshall has the measure of Lisztian virtuosity: he caught the poetic magic of the middle section while building the piece towards a thrilling – and deafening – climax

John Allison / The Times / May 2001 (Recital, Royal Festival Hall)
 

His fertile mind doesn't stand still. Turn on the spigot, and you get a steady stream of fast runs, contrapuntal fills and ingenious harmonic sequences…

Classics Today, Summer 2000 (CD of Organ Improvisations - Delos 3228)
 

Wayne Marshall gives a highly polished performance and the disc will not disappoint

BBC Music Magazine / Spring 2000
 
(Hindemith Organ Concerto / Berlin Philharmonic / EMI CDC 556831 2)

This work represents Poulenc in uncharacteristically serious mode and calls for a powerhouse performance from the soloist, a challenge to which Marshall rose with passion and excellent musical results…

Courier Mail / June 1999 (Australian Chamber Orchestra Tour)
 

Pipes, pedals and all, it's still the person at the keyboard who makes the difference, and, in Marshall's case, it's an accomplished and astute musician who makes the music sound so good.

The Star / July 1999 (Recital, Kuala Lumpur)
 

This is a stunning recording of a magnificent organ and there is no denying that few organ discs on the market present quite such brilliant playing.

Gramophone Magazine 1999
(Symphony; CD of Organ works by French Composers - Virgin Classics VC5 45320-2)
 

There is little doubt that something quite unprecedented is happening in the growth of a large, enthusiastic audience for organ concerts at the Bridgewater Hall – which other venues throughout the country would love to emulate –and it has almost everything to do with the personality of Wayne Marshall, the witty, charming, versatile and virtuosic lad from Oldham who is the organist-in-residence." Robert Beale / Manchester Evening News / 18th October 1997

As Conductor…

[Marshall] conducts with gestures which are pleasantly untraditional – with the baton, but also with his eyes, his body, his smile – the result is brilliant, as brilliant as the sound of the overture to Candide which opened the concert…the performance was amongst the best that we have heard for years.

Corriere della Sera / December 2001 (Concert, Teatro Alla Scala, Milan)
 

The vibrant vitality that lies in Bernstein's music was brilliantly suggested by Marshall, which resulted in a Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna burning with passion…

Wiener Zeitung / October 2000
 

He has now become an electrifying conductor, and he drew from the BBC Concert Orchestra a whipcrack performance totally idiomatic in its jazzy overtone, with outstanding work from the brass. Equally, the massive Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, with the BBC Singers as nucleus, sang with fervour.

Edward Greenfield / The Guardian / August 1998 (Porgy and Bess, BBC Proms)

Contact details and further information

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