Richard Saxel is a concert pianist who has established a reputation as one of the finest chamber music pianists of his generation. He studied the piano with the late Clifford Benson whilst at the University of York, and then with Michael Dussek as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music. Richard’s musical interests owe much to the influence of these two outstanding teachers; whilst happy to explore the lesser known piano solo repertoire, his real interest lies in the art of chamber music and piano accompaniment. In 2008 he formed Chamber Music Direct, under whose auspices some of the finest chamber musicians in the country are united in a desire to perform chamber music of the highest quality. Richard has in the past won the National Federation of Music Societies Making Music Award with his piano duet partner Faith Leadbetter. He has several duos with a variety of singers and instrumentalists, and is the pianist in the Meryon Trio alongside internationally acclaimed cellist Jitka Vlašánková and his long-standing clarinettist duo partner Angus Meryon. For more information on all these ensembles, please visit www.chambermusicdirect.com.

One of Richard’s great attributes as a performer is his versatility. For four years he was one of the six pianists in Piano Circus, who perform and broadcast contemporary music at major festivals around the world, and he has worked with a fascinating variety of artists, from Indonesian puppeteers to ballet dancers, tango musicians, trapeze artists, music theatre performers, jazz singers and also with the Endymion Ensemble under Gyorgy Kurtag. Richard has performed worldwide at many major festivals, including the Istanbul International Festival, Lucerne Festival, La Roque D’Antheron, The Big Chill, the Victoria Arts Festival in Gozo, the Cheltenham Festival and the Dartington International Summer School as well as at several of London’s leading venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall and St. John’s Smith Square, and at St. David's Hall in Cardiff.

Richard will release his first solo CD on the Quartz Music label in the spring of 2010. He recorded Janacek's 'On an Overgrown Path', Schumann's 'Waldscenen' Op.82 and Edward MacDowell's 'Woodland Sketches' Op.51. He is also due to record a CD of works for oboe, horn and piano with Jeremy Polmear (oboe) and Steve Stirling (horn) on the Oboe Classics label in the summer of 2010. He is strongly committed to music education, and is currently Head of Keyboard Studies and Performance at Cranleigh School in Surrey.