Biography

The classical accordion is truly an amazing instrument and here in the UK, Paul Chamberlain is one of a very select group of talented young musicians working to increase the instrument’s profile, a profile that was established through the pioneering work of accordionist Professor Owen Murray.

Born in Scotland in 1981, Paul was immersed in a wealth of music from a very early age, and at 17 he was invited out to St. Petersburg to perform in the Baltica Harmonica Festival and it was performances by artists there such as Yuri Shishkin and Oleg Sharov which inspired his change of focus to the greater possibilities of the free-bass button instrument.  Over the last ten years Paul has developed his performance technique on the instrument with his inspiring teacher Djordje Gajic and also through master-classes with experts such as Owen Murray, Peter Soave and Jean-Louis Norton.

Paul is a highly accomplished player and his current title of UK Virtuoso Champion is testimony to his breadth of skills across many competitions in both classical and Scottish music styles.  With appearances at music festivals around Europe and live television performances in Russia and Finland, Paul has also performed in France, Italy, Greece and Bahrain.

Currently Paul is studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, under the tutelage of Dr Djordje Gajic.  In 2010 he was Highly Commended for his performance in the Tony and Tania Webster Prize for rare Russian music, and he was winner of the acclaimed Governors Recital Prize.

Paul is an active concert performer and is also one quarter of “The Scottish Tango Ensemble”.

He has adjudicated at competitions such as the NAAFC Musselburgh Festival and the NAO UK Accordion Championships and teaches accordion at Fettes College in Edinburgh.

 Selected Repertoire List

Transcriptions

Toccata - Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978)

Asturias – Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)

Aria di Figaro – Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) 

Prelude Fugue & Variation – Cesar Franck (1822-1890)

Organ Prelude & Fugue in D Minor : BVW 554 - J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Prelude & Fugue No 2 in C Minor - J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Sonatas – Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)

Pieces de Clavichord – Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 –1764)

Scherzo-Tarantella – Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880)

Spanish Dance No. 5 – Enrique Granados (1867-1916)

Spanish Caprice – Moritz Moszkowski (1884-1925)

Gothic Suite - Léon Boëllmann (1862-1897)

Chamber music

Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica - K617 W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) (2 vln, vla, cello, accordion)

Bagatelles Op. 47 - Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) (accordion, 2 vln and cello)

Le Grand Tango – Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (accordion & violin)

Ave Maria –– Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (flute & accordion)

Tango – Steven Goss (b.1964) (clarinet, accordion, vibraphone, marimba, suspended cymbal and double bass)

The Wind is spreading the Echo over the Glade – Andrzej Krzanowski  (1951-1990) (accordion duo)

Pitt – John Hails (b.1978) (trumpet, cello, double bass, mezzo soprano, accordion, percussion)