Michael Pandya
pianist
Michael Pandya is a British pianist and conductor, increasingly sought-after as a performer and vocal coach in the UK and Europe. He is a BBC New Generation Artist 2023-25. Since September 2024 has been a member of the Music Staff at the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
A former young artist at the Bayerische Staatsoper, he has appeared on the performance stage alongside many high-calibre established and emerging musicians including Bryn Terfel, Nadine Sierra, Graham Johnson, Željko Lučić, Jonathan Lemalu, Robin Tritschler, Michael Nagy, Ema Nikolovska, Freddie de Tommaso, Harriet Burns, William Thomas, Andrew Hamilton and Leo Popplewell.
As a song pianist, Michael has been awarded several prestigious prizes including the Pianist Prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, at the Gerald Moore Award, at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, and at the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards.
Highlights of recent seasons include performances at the Wigmore Hall, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wolf Akademie Stuttgart, Fundaçion Juan March Madrid, KlavierFestRuhr, Jubiläums Festival Munich, Oxford Lieder Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Royal Overseas-League, the Barbican Hall, Leeds Lieder Festival, and live performances on BBC Radio 3. Michael is a former Oxford Lieder Young Artist Samling Artist, as well as being a regular pianist for the Samling Academy. He has given recitals for the Park Lane Group, the Concordia Foundation and City Music Foundation, and has received the Graham Johnson Fellowship at SongFest, Los Angeles.
Michael works as a member of staff at the Royal College of Music, where he is active as a vocal coach and conductor, as well as being regularly employed by the International Meistersinger Akademie and the Georg Solti Accademia. He has frequently been musical director for concerts given by Young Artists at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Previously he worked as a repetiteur for New Chamber Opera, directing, coaching and conducting numerous productions.
In 2022 Michael was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. Formerly Michael studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and University of Oxford. Teachers have included Graham Johnson, Julius Drake, Michael Dussek, James Baillieu, Ian Brown, Caroline Palmer and Sholto Kynoch.