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“In the hands of a great performer, things you never expected or even dreamed were in your music are suddenly revealed.” – John Adams

 

Eliza McCarthy is a London based pianist dedicated to performing new and experimental music.
She plays in concert halls, art galleries, theatres, living rooms and car parks across the UK, Europe and US as a soloist and band member.
Passionate about developing close creative relationships with composers she has had the pleasure of working with, commissioning, premiering and recording music by many including John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Crumb, Tansy Davies, Donnacha Dennehy, Kit Downes, Andrew Hamilton, Nico Muhly and Laurie Spiegel.

She regularly collaborates with Mica Levi (Under the Skin, Jackie) and their album Slow Dark Green Murky Waterfall was released in 2018 on Slip.
Recent performance highlights include Morton Feldman’s 90 minute solo piano work Triadic Memories which she performed at the Southbank Centre’s DEEP∞MINIMALISM festival, a solo show for Nature Unwrapped at King’s Place featuring music by John Luther Adams, Kit Downes and Donnacha Dennehy and the world premiere of True Stories & Rational Numbers by Chris P. Thompson with James McVinnie Ensemble at the Barbican Centre.

As an ensemble member she can be heard performing with Decibel, James McVinnie Ensemble, Manchester Collective and Ireland’s leading new music group Crash Ensemble

Eliza has recorded and released music on NMC, Milan Records, Slip, Diatribe Records, Foom, WW Records and Clay Pipe Music.
Her latest album, Years Went By, with composer Laurie Tompkins was released on Entr’acte in April 2022.

Alongside her life as a performer, Eliza teaches Mindfulness-based approaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and University of Birmingham helping performers engage with fear, anxiety and depression. She is also a professor at GSMD teaching contemporary repertoire studies to pianists.