Born and raised in Anglesey, Iwan Llewelyn-Jones has firmly established himself as one of the finest pianists of his generation. He studied with Kendall Taylor and Phyllis Sellick before building a close collaboration with the pianist Cécile Ousset. Iwan is a graduate of the University of Oxford and the Royal College of Music where he won several awards and competitions for both academic and pianistic excellence. Further prizes followed in international piano competitions in Spain, France, Italy and Great Britain.
He has performed at many of the world’s prestigious concert halls such as London’s Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Sydney Opera House and Cardiff St David’s Hall. Festival appearances have included the Aldeburgh, AberFest, Gregynog, Swansea and Fishguard Festivals and he has been a featured artist at the North Wales International Festival, Presteigne Festival and Machynlleth Festival. Iwan is a Steinway Artist.
As a recital soloist Iwan is particularly renowned for his insightful interpretations of French music. In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship by Cardiff University to pursue doctoral research into the pianism of Maurice Ravel. His discography includes recordings of French piano works by Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Chabrier, Poulenc and Messiaen (‘French Portraits’), and of contemporary Welsh solo piano music (‘Welsh Portraits’) featuring works composed for him by Alun Hoddinott, John Metcalf, Richard Elfyn Jones, Pwyll ap Sion and Sir Karl Jenkins.
Iwan’s highly successful solo recording of Welsh song transcriptions, ‘Caneuon heb eiriau’, was released in Spring 2011. Further recordings to be issued in 2016 include a disc of Chopin’s piano works and the world premiere recording of Iwan’s transcription of Chopin’s First Piano Concerto for solo piano. Iwan is asked to appear regularly on television and radio and has been the recipient of several awards and honours, including the Sir Geraint Evans Award in recognition of his significant contribution to Welsh music, and a Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council of Wales.