Welshpianist Llŷr Williams is widely admired for his profound musical intelligence,and for the expressive and communicative nature of his interpretations. He hasperformed with all the major UK orchestras under conductors including MichaelTilson Thomas, Jiří Bělohlávek, Carlo Rizzi, Vasily Petrenko, Jaime Martín, OsmoVanska , Joseph Swensen, Grant Llewellyn and Jac Van Steen, and he has aparticularly longstanding relationship with the BBC National Orchestra ofWales, with whom he has in recent seasons performed concertos ranging fromMozart and Beethoven to Bartók and Mathias.

Asa recitalist, Llŷr Williams regularly performs at venues and festivals includingWigmore Hall, Perth Concert Hall, the St David’s and Dora Stoutzker Halls inCardiff, and the Edinburgh and East Neuk Festivals. His long association withthe Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has included acclaimed multi-recitalcycles of  Beethoven, Schubert,andChopin. The 2023-24 season sees him returning to Wigmore Hall, as well as thestart of a six-recital Haydn-Mozart-Schumann series at the Royal Welsh Collegeof Music and Drama. Further afield, the season includes return invitations to theFestival Cultural de Mayo in Guadalajara for a complete Beethoven Sonata cycle,the Capital Region Classical series in Schenectady, USA and Salle Bourgie inMontreal, and his debut at the ‘Le Piano Symphonique’ festival in Lucerne.

LlŷrWilliams has also performed as a chamber musician alongside artists includingBryn Terfel, Natalie Clein, Tim Hugh, Katarina Nazarova and Jamie Barton. In2023-34, collaborations include projects with Mark Padmore, violist RosalindVentris and baritone Andrei Kymach. His particular interest in song repertoireis reflected in his 20-year association as one of the two official pianists ofthe BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

Llŷr Williams’ discography reflects hislong-standing partnership with Signum Records; January 2024 sees the release ofhis latest recording of works by Schumann; his previous releases include the8-disc box-set ‘A Schubert Journey’ (2020), the 12-volume ‘Beethoven Unbound’(2018), a ‘Wagner Without Words’ double album (2014) and highlights fromLiszt’s ‘Années de pèlerinage‘ (2012). He has also recorded William Mathias’second Piano Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well asworks by Welsh composers for the Tŷ Cerdd label.

Aformer BBC New Generation Artist and Borletti-Buitoni Trust award recipient, LlŷrWilliams was born in Pentrebychan, North Wales, and read music at The Queen’sCollege, Oxford before taking up a postgraduate scholarship at the RoyalAcademy of Music.  He is an HonoraryFellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and in 2017 was awardedan Honorary Doctorate from the University of Wales. He is also currentlyArtist-in-Association at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, a patronof the Gower Festival, and Associate Artist at the Cowbridge Festival.

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