Chopin’s four Scherzi form a major contribution to the literature of the piano. Beethoven before him had already used the word (‘Scherzo’ means ‘joke’ in Italian) in the sense of the symphonic ‘Scherzo and Trio’ but Chopin created the single-movement form and made it his own. With Chopin the scherzo came vigorously to life and although it cannot be thought of as a joke in the frivolous sense, a great deal of the music is fast and brilliant.

Hailed as ‘a major star in Classical Music’, Angela Brownridge first performed in public at the age of seven. By the age of 10 she had performed her first concerto and when she was 12 Angela made her debut at London’s Wigmore Hall. She was awarded a piano scholarship to Edinburgh University and after graduation studied for two years in Rome with Guido Agosti and returned to complete her studies with Maria Curcio in London.

She appears as soloist with many leading orchestras and Angela’s international festival engagements have included Bath, Edinburgh, Warwick, Newport, Rhode Island, Bratislava, Brno, Hong Kong and Maastricht. In an age that has become obsessed with mere technique and seeks the degree of perfection offered by over-edited CDs, Angela’s playing restores spontaneity, character and beauty of sound to the platform. In 2005 Angela became Musical Director of the Piano Academy at Dean Clough in Halifax, hosting weekends of masterclasses for students, adults at all levels of performance, and observers.