John Paul Ekins

London-born, John Paul began studying the piano at the age of five. He commenced his studies at the Royal College of Music (UK) Junior Department aged eleven, first learning with James Lisney, and then with John Barstow. Educated at St. Paul’s School (UK), where he was both an Academic and Music Scholar, he won numerous awards and competitions while still at school, including the concerto prizes at several major London Music Festivals. While at the RCM JD he twice won the May Edwards Memorial Prize and, on leaving, the Constance Poupard Memorial Prize for Piano.

He has given numerous recitals throughout the UK and abroad, playing at such venues as Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Fairfield Hall, St. Martin-in-the-fields and Steinway Hall. His recitals have also taken him to Katowice and Zakopane (both in Poland) and Seville (Spain). He has participated in master classes with renowned pianists such as Peter Donohoe and Martino Tirimo, and as a concerto soloist has performed works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich with orchestras throughout the UK.

International Competition successes include 2nd Prizes in the Amy Brant International Piano Competition (UK), the San Sebastian International Piano Competition (Spain) and the Oxford International Piano Competition (UK). Along with this, in past years he has been named the Kingston, Woking and Croydon Festivals’ (all in the UK) Young Musician of the Year, and the Richmond (UK) Pianist of the Year, receiving an award from Hanna & Sons Pianos Limited.

In 2007 he performed to acclaim Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with the Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra, courtesy of the 2007 Ruislip and Northwood Festival (UK), where he was awarded the Adjudicator's Prize. This consisted of a scholarship from the pianist Andrzej Pikul to attend his Summer Academy of Music in Krakow (Poland).

An avid chamber musician, John Paul has an extensive repertoire of piano and string works, from duos to trios, quartets and quintets. He is a member of the Erato Piano Trio, and performs regularly with them in concerts in the UK and abroad. Tours abroad include trips to Prague (courtesy of winning the Ensemble Prize in the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust Competition), Switzerland (where they gave their debut at Zurich's Tonhalle, performing Messiaen's Quartet for the end of time alongside the distinguished clarinettist Joan Enric Lluna), and Sardinia. Other recent recitals included venues in Cardiff, and for the Schubert Society in London.

He was awarded a major scholarship to begin postgraduate studies in 2009 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Charles Owen.