Barry Douglas,Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a classical pianist and conductor.
Education
He studied piano, cello, clarinet and organ while growing up in Belfast. He first studied in Belfast while attending Methodist College Belfast and, at 16, had lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, a pupil of Emil von Sauer and grand-pupil of Franz Liszt. In London he studied with John Barstow for four years and then studied privately with Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel, going on to study with the Russian pianist Yevgeny Malinin in Paris.
Career
His debut album was a recording of Modest Mussorgsky"s Pictures at an Exhibition. He has made many recordings since then and has recently (2007) completed (with Camerata Ireland) recording the five Beethoven piano concertos and the Triple Concerto (with Kim Chee Yun and Andrés Díaz (cellist)). He is Artistic Director of the International Piano Festival in Manchester, England and the Clandeboye Festival in Clandeboye, Bangor, County Down.
He founded Camerata Ireland in 1998 which has Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Mary McAleese, the then President of Ireland, as Joint Patrons.
Douglas increasingly devotes part of his time to conducting the Camerata Ireland orchestra. He has directed cycles of the complete Beethoven symphonies (in November 2002) and Mozart and Schubert symphonies and Mozart concertos in 2000 and 2001.
He has recorded on the Radio Corporation of America and Satirino France labels.