With several recordings for the boutique label Somm, English pianist
Simon Callaghan has gained a reputation for high-quality, intimate performances. His interest in neglected repertory has also led to his appearance in the Hyperion label's popular Romantic Piano Concertos series, dedicated to the revival of forgotten works.
Callaghan was born in 1983 in Stoke-on-Trent and took an interest in the piano early on. He enrolled at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester in 2000, studying with
Bernard Roberts, and went on to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Yonty Solomon, a student of Dame
Myra Hess.
Callaghan was a finalist at the Bromsgrove International Young Musician’s Platform in 2002. Signed as a Steinway artist, he has given concerts all over the world. Under the auspices of the piano maker Steinway, he has performed around the U.K. at major halls including Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and Bridgewater and Stoller Halls in Manchester. Abroad, he has crisscrossed Europe, traveled to the Banff Centre in Canada, and performed in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Callaghan has also toured as a chamber musician as half of the Parnassus Duo (with
Hiro Takenouchi) and has performed at the Highgate, Husum, Whittington, and Cervo Chamber Music Festivals.
Callaghan's discography most clearly shows his orientation toward lesser-known music. After making his debut on Somm in
2012 with
Takenouchi in music by Delius arranged for two pianos, he has issued several albums devoted to Roger Sacheverell Coke. One of these was on Hyperion, featuring three of Coke's piano concertos, and was issued as part of that label's Romantic Piano Concertos series; another album in that series, featuring concertos by Joseph Rheinberger and
Bernhard Scholz, appeared in 2018. That year also saw
Callaghan perform
Nikolai Medtner's Piano Concerto No. 3 in E minor, Op. 60, a work of which he had given the first British performance since 1946.