Music and performances by the very talented Fumiko Miyachi featured on ‘Miniaturised Concertos’ with Kate Halsall and this is the first showcase portrait album of her music for piano duo (played with Halsall), piano solo, chamber ensemble and brass band. Much of the music here is inspired by the Periodic Table of the Elements and displays a crispness, neatness and efficiency of writing, often with a high rhythmic drive and clarity of texture. The album also includes two fascinating settings of Shakespeare Sonnets, and the performers are all now or recently associated with the vibrant young community of musicians in Birmingham, England.

Fumiko Miyachi was born in Tokyo in 1979 and began piano lessons at the age of three. After moving to the UK in 1993 she began to study composition and cello at the Royal College of Music and is now a most successful composer with many performances taking place each year. Since 2006 she has been Visiting Tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire.

“Not only an amazing pianist, but also an amazing composer” – Louis Andriessen, 2011