Pianist
Thai-British musician Prach Boondiskulchok enjoys a uniquely diverse career as a pianist, fortepianist, composer and teacher. His ensemble the Linos Piano Trio won the First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2015 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. In 2020, the ensemble released the first recording of C. P. E. Bach’s Complete Piano Trios (Accompanied Piano Sonatas) with Cavi Music, receiving several five-star reviews from across the European press, with the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s praise of its “virtuosity, presence of mind, and wit”, and subsequently nominated for the Opus Klassik Award 2021.
Equally at home improvising 18th C. ornaments and composing microtonal harmonies, Prach’s performances have taken him to 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.
Weaving together his practices as fortepianist and composer, Prach performs 18th and early 19th Century repertoire on his Adlam-Rosenberger c. 1800 piano, juxtaposing this with his new compositions for the historical instrument. His other compositions include Night Suite (2014) for piano trio, 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. 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. A selection of his music is published by Composers Edition.
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 pianists Martin Roscoe and Caroline Palmer and composer Malcolm Singer. He completed a postgraduate degree in chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien in Hannover with Oliver Wille and Markus Becker. He has additionally benefited from the guidance of Mstislav Rostropovich, Richard Goode, András Schiff, Ferenc Rados, Eberhardt Feltz, Malcolm Bilson, Melvyn Tan and Carole Cerasi. His current doctoral research on composing for the fortepiano is supervised by Tom Beghin and Julian Anderson.
A passionate 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. He holds a rank of second dan in Kyudo (Japanese archery).
Press
"virtuosity, presence of mind, and wit"
"Ecstatic rendition … would have been a high point in any recital programme"
"Passion poured from Boondiskulchok’s fingers"
"… a work of great charm… [Ritus: Four Portraits for String Quartet (2019)]"
"… fiery, committed, intensely personal readings…the risk-taking energy was palpable…"
"The players brought brilliance and élan … performed with control and tonal intensity … the ensemble between these three players was superb … Their winning way with slow sustained lines … This was a slow-burning, gripping performance, the playing rich and passionate"
"…the audiences were plentifully fascinated."