British-born pianist Kelvin Grout started piano lessons when he was three years old. At the age of six, he won his first piano competition.
Grout studied piano accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where his teachers included Graham Johnson, Pau Hamburger, Gerald Moore and Geoffrey Parsons.
While still a student, he was invited by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf to assist her with her singing lessons at her home in Zurich and subsequently travelled with her as a regular accompanist at many of her master classes throughout Europe. This special collaboration lasted more than six years.
In the process, Grout enjoyed an international career as a song accompanist, and as such he worked with many of the world's greatest song singers, including Jessye Norman, Gundela Janowitz, Inessa Galante, Sarah Walker, Nancy Argenta, Tom Krause, Robert Tear and Maarten Koningsberger.
Following the Schwarzkopf master classes in Amsterdam, Kelvin Grout settled in the Netherlands. He taught song accompaniment at Rotterdam Conservatoire (now Codarts), and gave guest lessons and master classes at conservatoires in the Netherlands and internationally. In addition, Grout taught at Boston University in the US, where he was offered the position of head of the department of collaborative pianists.
Grout was one of six chosen pianists for whom the Dutch composer Daan Manneke made his Grand Archipelago composed, tailored to each of these six pianists. Apart from the accompaniment profession, Grout has returned to his first great love: the solo stage. With this, he aims to bring special and unknown British piano heritage to attention through CD recordings and recitals, which led to the founding of the British Piano Music Society. In 2020, the society's first CD appeared, including the Piano Sonataby Frank Bridge. A CD recording featuring compositions by Baines and Bax followed a year later. Both projects are now streaming on all major platforms. The latest solo project is focused on recording and performing the challenging Iberia suite By Isaac Albeniz.
