Michael was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1983. His interest in music began at the age of seven when he started learning the piano, soon followed by cello lessons at the City of Belfast School of Music. A varied education took Michael from Belfast to Dublin, Cambridge and ultimately London where he is now based.

His performing career encompasses solo recital, concerto and chamber music appearances and he enjoys playing both core and contemporary repertoire. See the professional biography below for more detailed information.

Biography for professional purposes

Belfast-born pianist Michael McHale was winner of the 2009 Terence Judd/Hallé Award and has established himself as one of the leading Irish pianists of his generation.

He enjoys a busy career as solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician and has performed throughout the UK and Ireland, Europe and the USA, including broadcast performances for BBC TV, Radio 3, RTE, WNYC Radio, PBS television and Deutschlandradio Kultur.

Michael graduated from Cambridge University with a double first-class honours degree in Music before completing postgraduate studies with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He won the 2004 Camerata Ireland Musician of the Year and the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition prior to winning first prize and the audience prize at the Terence Judd/Hallé Award finals in 2009.

Highlights include solo performances at the Tanglewood Festival, Berlin Konzerthaus and Vígadó Hall, Budapest and chamber music collaborations with Patricia Rozario, Barry Douglas, Richard Watkins and Sir James Galway. This season Michael will give concerto performances with the Bournemouth Symphony, Hallé, and RTE Concert Orchestras and the London Mozart Players, as well as a solo recital tour culminating in a début evening recital at the Wigmore Hall (June 2010) for which he has commissioned a new work from Irish composer Ian Wilson.

Recent CD releases include a disc for the Louth Contemporary Music Society featuring solo works by John Cage and Arvo Pärt as well as chamber works by Silvestrov, Knaifel and Gorecki (which received unanimous critical acclaim from BBC Music magazine, International Record Review and Gramophone magazine), as well as an album of piano trios with Ensemble Avalon on the RTE lyric fm label (chosen as 'selection of the month' in The Strad magazine). Future recordings include a second disc for LCMS and an album of clarinet and piano works with Michael Collins for Chandos.

Engagements next season include a solo recital at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, a CD recording of solo piano music by Philip Hammond for the Lorelt label, a concerto début with the City of London Sinfonia and return visits to the Hallé, Ulster and RTE National Symphony Orchestras.

Michael is grateful to Camerata Ireland / Accenture, EMI Music Sound Foundation, the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for supporting his performing career.

For further information visit michaelmchale.com