Lunchtime Concert: Imma Setiadi & Nigel Clayton, piano

IMMA SETIADI AND NIGEL CLAYTON (PIANO DUET)

“..impressive precision and deep feeling. [..] The sympathy that bonded the performers flowed freely through the hall, holding the near-capacity audience rapt.” (The Jakarta Post)

For Nigel and Imma, bringing Classical Music to a wider audience in an engaging way has always been at the heart of their work together. Recently they have been touring the complete ‘Planets’ by Holst in his anniversary year. They have also been engaged in a number of cross-arts projects, one of the most significant ones has been Debussy La Mer working with visual art and dancers at the Turner Contemporary Gallery, for Trinity Laban Arts Festival and the Deal Festival. Together they have performed recitals at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, St John’s Smith Square in London, Cowdray Hall in Scotland, various music clubs and festivals across the UK, as well as in collaboration with a choir (Joyful Company of Singers), with the Musical Rainbow Ensemble for a programme based on Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Happy Prince’, Kings’ Chamber Orchestra in Jersey, and supporting charities such as ‘Everyone Matters’, ‘the Hunger Project’ and ‘Aid to the Church in Need’. Extremely keen to expand repertoire for piano duet, they have commissioned and premiered pieces by Philip Wilby, Paul Robinson, Jean-Francois Michel, and in conjunction with Celebrating Australian Music, premiered a piece by Wendy Hiscocks. Both share a love of teaching and have designed several courses/workshops in piano duet, chamber music, solo piano and Art of Teaching for aspiring musicians. 

Nigel Clayton studied with Stephen Savage and Angus Morrison at the Royal College of Music London, where he won prizes in every category of piano performance and was awarded the College’s yearly prize for his Bachelor of Music Degree. Whilst there, a particular interest in chamber music and accompanying developed and was further encouraged by international prizes from competitions in London, New York (Concert Artist Guild) and from the English Speaking Union. Since then his worldwide travel has included four major tours of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with Indian cellist Anup Kumar Biswas, tours of the Middle East and America with Wissam Boustany, of Scandinavia with Gerard LeFeuvre and several throughout Europe; he has also appeared at most of the music clubs and festivals in the UK, at the BBC’s radio network, the Wigmore hall, the South Bank Centre, as well as longstanding partnerships with Gina McCormack, Michael Cox, the Bingham Quartets among others.  He has performed many times in Japan and since 2013 has made regular recital and lecture tours of Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Nigel is a piano professor and Art of Teaching lecturer at the Royal College of Music. For his services in the musical world Nigel was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music (FRCM) presented by HRH Prince of Wales in 2017. (www.nigelclayton.com)

Imma Setiadi was born in Surabaya, Indonesia where she started her early training. She then received her BMus degree from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore) with Albert Tiu, her MMus (distinction) where she studied with Nigel Clayton at the Royal College of Music London, and her Doctoral degree from the RCM, with Nigel Clayton and Amanda Glauert. She is truly grateful for the support of RCM Study Award, Indonesian Beasiswa Unggulan, the Seary Charitable Trust, Talent Unlimited Charity, anonymous, and PAL charity.

Since her coming to the UK, she has performed in many prestigious venues as a soloist and chamber musician such as at the Bridgewater Hall, the Purcell Room, Steinway Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, the National Gallery, Blackheath Halls, Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Her playing was further encouraged through prizes at the BPSE Concerto Competition and RCM Beethoven and Piano Chamber Music Competitions. She has been an artist for the Park Lane Group, Manchester Mid-Day Concerts Society and Leeds Lieder Festival, and a Junior Fellow in Piano Accompaniment at both the RCM and Trinity Laban Conservatoire. She is a teaching staff at the Academic Programme Department at the RCM alongside being a collaborative pianist, and a visiting fellow at the Loughborough School Music. She also teaches piano at Junior Trinity Laban and Whitgift School, and regularly coaches at Benslow Music. She is the founder of the Musical Rainbow Project, a project to bring hope through music which was chosen as one of the recipients for the Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Fund, in association with the Harriet’s Trust. (www.immasetiadi.com)