Described by Gramophone Magazine as possessing “the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold”, Ashley Wass is a former BBC New Generation Artist and the only British pianist to have won First Prize at the London International Piano Competition.

He has given recitals at most of the UK’s major venues. He made his BBC Prom debut performing Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic in August 2008. In the 2009 BBC Proms Ashley performed in three concerts and gave the world premiere of a BBC commission for solo piano by John McCabe. At the 2010 BBC Proms performed John Foulds Piano Concerto Dynamic Triptych with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Concerto performances have included collaborations with Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO, London Mozart Players, Philharmonia, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Symphony, BBC NOW, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Concert, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Ashley is much in demand as a chamber musician and has toured the USA and Europe with violinist Sarah Chang appearing at venues including Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall in New York.

His discography includes the Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto, which was Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” and also reached No. 1 in the Naxos charts. Bax Symphonic Variations was BBC Music Magazine Choice in May 2009 and awarded the benchmark version of this work. Ashley’s surveys of piano music by Bridge and Bax have been heralded as “remarkable”‘ and “the yardstick against which all future recordings will be judged”.

Ashley is Artistic Director of the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival and a member of the piano faculty at the Royal College of Music.