"...Colin Stone's qualities are rare and will, I do not doubt, enable him to succeed at a very high level."
Sir Charles Groves

The pianist Colin Stone first came to prominence in 1986 when he won the Royal Over-Seas League piano competition in London, his performance of Liszt's Dante Sonata at the Queen Elizabeth Hall being a notable triumph. In the same year, success at the Busoni competition in Italy and a highly acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut, launched his career as a soloist.

Concerto engagements have included Mozart's K.271 in a tour of Italy with the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven's Emperor at the Sheldonian Theatre, the two Brahms concerti, the Schumann at St.John Smith's Square, the Tchaikovsky B flat minor, Rachmaninov's 2nd, both Shostakovich concerti and the Cesar Franck with Grant Llewellyn and the National Centre for Orchestral Studies Orchestra. In 1989 he made his debut on BBC Radio 3 and, following the success of his live Concert Hall broadcast in 1990 and the subsequent Prokofiev series, he is regularly invited to record for BBC Radio 3.

The final attraction of the day was a superlative performance of the (Schubert) Piano Sonata in C minor (D958) by Colin Stone. His reading had just the right halance of rugged strength and lyricism, with well-judged tempi and dynamics. This was a performance where technique and passion were at the service of the music and the composer's intentions.
London Schubert Day - Morley College, May 1995

Hear Colin Stone playing Prokofiev

SCENAThe Theatre Music of Prokofiev Click on the CD cover above to hear the opening of Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet. Real Audio version 3 format.

A highlight of 1992 was a tour of Canada which included a recording of a live recital at Concordia University for CBC in Montreal. Later that year he began a series of recordings for Pickwick's IMP Masters label with the then recently formed London Mozart Trio. Their recordings of Trios by Schubert and Dvorak were enthusiastically received by Gramophone magazine and their recording of Schubert's Trio in B flat D.898 was the "overall first choice" from twenty recordings on BBC Radio 3'sBuilding a Library; "the best since Casals, Cortot and Thibaud". Colin Stone's first solo CD, of transcriptions by Prokofiev of his own theatre music, was released in 1994 on the United label and has been followed by a CD for Olympia of the two piano sonatas by Shostakovich.

The review for Classic CD magazine considered the Shostakovich CD"an outstanding release"and commented on the"overwhelming mastery" of the performances. Gramophone magazine have included it in their Good CD Guide.

"The playing for the most part is quite outstanding, with Colin Stone effecting a marvellous understanding for all the composer's multi-faceted personality...the overwhelming mastery of the playing is never in doubt."
Erik Levi in Classic CD

Colin Stone's busy concert schedule includes both solo and chamber music with appearances at the Karajan Centre in Vienna, The Glinka Hall in St Petersburg and a live broadcast in Tel Aviv for the Anglo Israeli Piano Platform, as well as tours in the UK. Solo and chamber music also feature in his recording commitments which include the twenty four preludes and fugues of Shostakovich for Olympia and the two Arensky Trios for ASV.

"Colin Stone possesses a musical instinct of an unusual order and a technique completely at the service of that gift, which makes his playing most compelling. In these times when there are so many young players with great technical facility, Colin Stone's qualities are rare and will, I do not doubt, enable him to succeed at a very high level"
Sir Charles Groves

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