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Accordionist

Paul Chamberlain

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About Paul

Versatile Accordionist based in Edinburgh. All styles of music for concerts, events and parties.
Accordionist
Newbridge
Public liability insurance of £10 million

Paul Chamberlain was one of the first classical accordionists to graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where he studied with Djordje Gajic. He completed a BMus (Hons) degree and subsequently graduated from the conservatoire with a Master of Music Performance with Distinction. Whilst studying there he was awarded the acclaimed Governors Recital Prize for Keyboard, and was also one of the keyboard section finalists in the 2011 Royal Overseas League competition. Paul is a highly accomplished player with appearances at international music festivals such as Baltica Harmonica in St. Petersburg – Russia, Sata-Häme Soi Accordion festival in Ikaalinen – Finland, and the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, held annually in Scotland. He has also performed in France, Italy, Greece, Bahrain and the USA. In 2011, Paul released his debut solo album entitled “Classical Accordion” featuring a mixture of transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach, Rameau, Moszkowski and Khachaturian, as well as original works by Alexander Nagayev and Franck Angelis. He made his Bridgewater Hall debut with a solo recital as part of the long established Manchester Mid-Days concert series in 2013 and completed a major national tour of concerts in July 2014 to coincide with his CD release ‘Accordion Sensations’. The disc features a mixture of solo repertoire by Scarlatti, Zolotariev and Weber as well as and chamber works by Piazzolla for which Paul is joined on the recording by violinist Feargus Hetherington and the Maxwell String Quartet. He has also performed with Ute Lemper and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Paragon Ensemble, Scottish Opera Connect Orchestra, and is a founder member of the Scottish Tango Ensemble. Paul has been featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme with Sean Rafferty, performing live in the studio, BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Classics Unwrapped’ and California’s KDFC Classical Music Radio Station in San Francisco.

Paul's Reviews

From customers:

S&
Seen I
10 years ago

This is my biggest surprise of the festival so far, and a pleasant one at that. Paul Chamberlain used his accordion to shake off the instrument’s image as a background bandstand accompanist, and argues a convincing case for its place as a provider of virtuoso showpieces. He began his programme with a pretty breathtaking run through Khatchaturian’s Toccata, blowing the cobwebs off any preconceptions that you may have of the instrument, and he proceeded through a well-chosen programme – including Scarlatti, Piazzolla and Zolotaryov – which showed off everything his instrument could do. He brought an astonishing breadth of colours and styles to the instrument’s necessarily limited range, but I was especially impressed not only by his quicksilver fingerwork, but also by the way he made the accordion’s rustic wheeze sound not only jolly but also, by turns, dramatic, threatening or stormy as need be. The concert culminated in a stunning run through Weber’s Konzertstück which was amazing in its range of colours and its quickfire attack of the notes. If you hadn’t known it was originally written for a full orchestra then you probably wouldn’t have guessed. Chamberlain himself is a modest, diffident presence on the stage, and I liked the way he gave us a tour of his Russian-designed instrument, showing what all the different parts could do. This was his final Fringe show, but I’ll certainly watch out for him in future.

Musicianship
Genres:
Classical, Classical crossover, Contemporary classical, Film / TV music, Folk, Ceilidh, Traditional Scottish folk, World music, Scottish music, Tango, Italian music, Mariachi, French music, Balkan, Argentinian
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Instruments:
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Event types:
Concert, Wedding, Private event, Corporate event, Recording session
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Other skills:
Instrumental teaching
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