Lionel Sainsbury

English composer Lionel Sainsbury was born in Wiltshire in 1958. He studied piano as a child and began to write his own music. Later he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama - composition with Patric Standford and piano with Edith Vogel.

Sainsbury's Violin Concerto was given its first performance at the Worcester Three Choirs Festival in 2012 by Lorraine McAslan with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Adrian Lucas. His Cello Concerto was recorded in 2012 by Raphael Wallfisch and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.

Recordings of Sainsbury's music have appeared on the EM Records, EMI Classics for Pleasure, Dutton, Navona and Naxos labels.

As a pianist, Sainsbury has performed his own music, plus works by J S Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Domenico Scarlatti and Robert Schumann.

A selection of articles about Lionel Sainsbury

CD Spotlight. Worth Exploring - Piano music by Lionel Sainsbury, heard by the late Howard Smith. '... fine thematic content and impressive technical address.'

CD Spotlight. Impressive Virtuosity - Contemporary classical works for small ensemble, heard by Patric Standford. '... a splendidly recorded recital of small-scale pieces ...'

Record box. Breadth and scope - Keith Bramich is impressed by Lionel Sainsbury's Twelve Preludes

Profile. An expression of emotion - English composer Lionel Sainsbury talks to Keith Bramich