Biography

Performer, recording artist and writer with expertise in the field of Jean Sibelius’ solo piano works and as a renowned duo pianist, Joseph extended his series of Sibelius recordings through a collaboration with the violinist Fenella Humphreys for Resonus Classics released in 2022.

His solo Wigmore Hall recital in November 2022 featured Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, marking 200 years since this work was composed, and also the London Premiere of David Matthews’s ‘Five Trees’ performed alongside the ‘Tree Pieces’ Op. 75 by Sibelius.

An enthusiastic review in International Piano Magazine commented that ” Someone from whom we don’t het hear enough is the British pianist Joseph Tong, whose lunchtime recital – a satisfying blend of old and new – was perfect in every way.”

A versatile and imaginative pianist, much in demand as a soloist, duo pianist and chamber musician, Joseph Tong enjoys a busy and varied career giving regular performances at concert venues and festivals throughout the UK and abroad whilst producing critically acclaimed new recordings reflecting his musical interests and passions.

Joseph Tong has been particularly associated with the piano music of Jean Sibelius, having recorded three discs of a complete cycle for the Quartz label to critical acclaim and performing regularly in Finland over recent years. He has twice been invited to play at the Korpo Sibelius Festival, taking part in a Sibelius piano ‘marathon’ in 2019, and has given several recitals on the composer’s original Steinway at Ainola. Joseph has also performed at the Helsinki Musiikkitalo (Camerata Hall), Hämeenlinna City Hall, the Sibelius Museum in Turku and, most recently, at the 2024 Joensuu Music Festival.
To mark the 150^th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth in 2015, he gave an all-Sibelius recital at
St John’s Smith Square in London together with a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.

Other recent projects have included a new commission from the British composer David Matthews, a set of Five Trees which Joseph premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in 2022. He also performed the new work at the Sibelius Museum in Turku as part of a collaboration with the Åbo University Foundation, recording a third album of Sibelius’s piano music which was released in 2023.

Joseph has made several critically acclaimed recordings as a soloist and chamber musician including a disc of Schumann, released in 2019 on the Quartz label, which was awarded Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine. Much in demand as a collaborative pianist, his recording of Sibelius works for violin and piano with the British violinist Fenella Humphreys on Resonus Classics was selected as ‘Chamber Choice’ in BBC Music Magazine in 2022 and featured on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review programme. Joseph has also made piano duet recordings of Schubert, Debussy and McCabe in his longstanding duo with Waka Hasegawa, with whom he performed at Wigmore Hall in London, at Music Festivals including Cheltenham, Buxton, York and Oundle as well as in Japan and USA.
He also performs regularly with his brother Daniel, having appeared on Radio 3’s In Tune together and giving recent piano duet recitals at Conway Hall in London, St David’s Hall Cardiff, and the Laidlaw Music Centre at the University of St Andrews.

In 2022 he returned to Wigmore Hall to give a solo recital featuring Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, marking 200 years since the work was written. Other recent highlights have included solo recitals in Spain and Germany including the Sendesaal in Bremen and Kloster Konzerte in St. Blasien, St George’s Bristol, Chichester Cathedral, Hatchlands in Surrey and the Presteigne Festival in Wales.
A passionate advocate for new music, Joseph gave the world premiere of Lara Poe’s Koivunrungot Kaarella at Presteigne last summer and has recently commissioned a new work, The Willows Suite, from the Finnish pianist-composer Terhi Dostal.

Joseph was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2008 and is a visiting teacher at Wells Cathedral School and Coordinator of the Wells International Piano Summer School. He is also an adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals.

Joseph studied with Hilary Coates at Wells Cathedral School and Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, after reading music at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. He also studied privately with Piers Lane. He won the Maisie Lewis Young Artists Award in 1996 which led to a Wigmore Hall recital debut the following year.

Broadcast appearances and recordings

Joseph Tong has broadcast live in the In Tune studio for BBC Radio 3 in 2022, ahead of a duo recital at St David’s Hall in Cardiff with his brother Daniel, and also a few years previously in 2015 coinciding with his first St John’s Smith Square all-Sibelius recital in London , marking the composer’s 150th anniversary and the release of his first album of Sibelius piano works. His interpretative insight into this large body of relatively neglected repertoire saw a second volume released two years later, further invitations to perform in Finland and the rare opportunity to join Folke Gräsbeck and four other Finnish pianists for a Sibelius Piano Marathon at the Korpo Sibelius Festival in July 2019 which was recorded for later broadcast on Swedish YLE radio.

Other highlights have included recitals at the 2018 and 2024 Presteigne Festivals where he gave the World Premières of new works by Cydonie Banting and Lara Poe alongside contemporary works by Huw Watkins, David Matthews, Lynne Plowman and Gareth Moorcraft. Recent recitals have also included the Guildford International Festival, the Three Choirs Festival, Cedars Hall in Wells, St George’s Bristol, the Sendesaal in Bremen and Jimena CODA concerts in Spain.

Joseph also pursued his long-standing admiration and love for Robert Schumann’s music with a visit to Leipzig and Zwickau followed by a highly acclaimed recording for Quartz in 2019 which received excellent reviews in BBC Music Magazine, the Sunday Times, Musical Opinion Quarterly and other publications. Joseph’s discography also includes a series of recordings of piano duo works with Waka Hasegawa (see Piano 4 Hands.)

Piano 4 Hands

He also has as successful parallel career in the piano duo Piano 4 Hands with the Japanese pianist Waka Hasegawa, much in demand as one of the UK’s leading piano duos. They perform regularly in recitals at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, St George’s Bristol, The Lighthouse Poole and major UK festivals including Buxton, York, Guildford, Oundle and Presteigne.

The duo has also appeared at the Cheltenham Music Festival three times since 2010, co-commissioning new works by Dai Fujikura, Daniel Kidane and David Matthews, Nicola LeFanu, Rob Keeley, Edwin Roxburgh and the late John McCabe, giving their premieres at Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London. Their latest project is a new commission from Edwin Roxburgh, ‘Dialogue and Toccata’ which was premiered at St James’s Church, Piccadilly in 2021.

Piano 4 Hands has made a series of critically acclaimed CD recordings on the Quartz label of Debussy, Schubert and John McCabe.

Chamber music

As a chamber musician, Joseph has taken part in concerts and study sessions with the musicologist and broadcaster Richard Wigmore as part of his ongoing Music Discovery Live series in Oxford, teaming up with his brother Daniel Tong, violinist Sara Trickey and cellist Robin Michael.

Joseph has also been a regular performer at the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival since its inception in 2000. He is also a member of the New Street Ensemble with Marie Lloyd (clarinet), Simon Smith (violin) and Penny Driver (cello).

Joseph also has a regular piano duet partnership with his brother Daniel, appearing together at the Purcell Room in London in a performance of Schubert’s Fantasy in F minor and playing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring as part of the ballet’s centenary celebrations held at St Hilda’s College, Oxford in 2013 in the presence of Dame Monica Mason.

Music of Sibelius

As a result of their shared interest in the music of Sibelius, Joseph has collaborated with the British violinist Fenella Humphreys on a recording of Sibelius’s violin and piano works for the Resonus Classics label, generously supported by Sibelius One, in Cedars Hall, Wells. Following on from the successful launch of this album, Joseph and Fenella have given recitals at the Three Choirs Festival, York University and at the 2023 Korppoo Sibelius Festival in Finland.

Teaching and Festivals

Joseph Tong was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2008 and is one of the senior piano tutors at Wells Cathedral School. Joseph also holds a teaching and accompaniment post at an all-Steinway school in London, and is regularly invited to adjudicate and give classes at conservatoires and junior colleges.

He is also piano coordinator for the Wells International Summer School and was on the teaching faculty of the Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in 2019.

Joseph Tong is the founder and co-director of the Bristol International Piano Duo Festival (2008-2017), held biennially at St George’s Bristol and the University of Bristol.

He is currently a music adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals (BIFF).

Future plans

Future projects include recording the fourth volume of Sibelius piano works, pursuing his interest in the music of Robert Schumann and Edvard Grieg, further concerts in Finland including a return to the Sibelius Museum in Turku and new commissions including the world premiere of ‘The Willows Suite’ by Terhi Dostal at Blackheath Halls, London in spring 2025.