Composer
Thai-British musician Prach Boondiskulchok enjoys a uniquely diverse career as a composer, pianist, and fortepianist. His ensemble the Linos Piano Trio won the First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2015 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and in 2020 released the premiere recording of C. P. E. Bach’s Complete Piano Trios with Cavi Music praised for its “virtuosity, presence of mind, and wit” by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. His performances have received critical acclaim by The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian, and his composition Night Suite was praised for its “ingenuity and imagination” by George Benjamin.
His compositions include the semi-operatic song cycle Goose Daughter (2016) commissioned and premiered by the Birdfoot Festival, Imaginary Beings (2018) for fortepiano as part of Artistic Research at the Orpheus Institute, and Prometheus (2020) commissioned and performed by gambist Liam Byrne. Goose Daughter has received subsequent repeat performances across the U.S. and was premiered in the UK at King’s Place, London. In 2019 Prach was one of the four commissioned composers for the Endellion String Quartet’s 40th Anniversary in 2019, alongside Sally Beamish, Jonathan Dove, and Giles Swayne. The work Ritus: Four Portraits for String Quartet was hailed as “a work of great charm” by the Guardian.
Equally at home improvising Mozartian ornaments and juxtaposing microtonal harmonies with sounds from his multiple cultural landscapes, his compositions and performances seek to connect the past with our present experience. Prach has been active on international stages and festivals including London’s Wigmore, Barbican, and Royal Festival Halls, Muziekgebouw (Eindhoven), Nikolaisaal (Potsdam), Thailand Cultural Centre (Bangkok), IMS Open Chamber Music (Prussia Cove, UK), Geelvinck Fortepiano Festival (Amsterdam), and the Birdfoot Festival (New Orleans). As a chamber musician, he has given recitals with Steven Isserlis, Roger Chase, and Leonid Gorokhov.
After formative years at the Yehudi Menuhin School under the guidance of Peter Norris, Prach won Princess Galyani Vadhana’s full scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with pianist Caroline Palmer and composer Malcolm Singer. He has additionally benefited from the guidance of Mstislav Rostropovich, Richard Goode, András Schiff, Ferenc Rados, Eberhardt Feltz, and Thomas Adès. His current doctoral research on composing for the fortepiano is supervised by Tom Beghin and Julian Anderson.
A devoted educator and scholar, Prach served as a faculty member at the Yehudi Menuhin School from 2010-2015, and was Visiting Professor at the Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music in Bangkok 2014-2017. He currently teaches piano and chamber music at London's Royal College of Music and The Hague's Royal Conservatory. Prach has served on the jury of the Geelvinck International Fortepiano Competition and since 2017, he has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire with the Linos Piano Trio.
Press
"… a work of great charm… [Ritus: Four Portraits for String Quartet (2019)]"