Sonya Pigot may have given a concert of miniatures, in that each work was barely five minutes long ,but she was able to take us to a magic world of dreams.
She showed us a multifaceted world with her exquisite playing,kaleidoscopic palette of colour ,chameleonic sense of character and theatricality, as she lived every moment of her recreation ……..perchance to dream as the poetic ‘Bard’ admonishes.

Bach that was played with aristocratic authority and clarity.A monumental opening gesture followed by a clarity that brought Bach’s knotty twine vividly to life with remarkable shape and vitality.
The magic languishing atmosphere of hidden emotions in Granados ‘s op 11 n.5 was played with eruptions of subdued passion as she painted a world that was to be so cruelly denied us by a torpedo off the same coast where Debussy had spied his his Joyous Island.

The Vine Bagatelles were landscapes of desolate beauty,spiky brilliance but above sumptuous subtle colours from a supreme stylist.Five contrasting worlds played with a mastery and understanding through her extraordinary sensitivity and theatrical self identification.Above all a superb use of the pedal that just underlined Anton Rubinstein’s dictum that this was where the real soul of the piano was laying in wait to be awoken with a kiss only by true poets with the key.

What she missed in the great virtuosistic sweep to one of Rachmaninov’s most passionate opening statements she made up for with her superb musicianship and self identification with a romantic world of searing passions and secret whispers.

Debussy’s depiction of Jersey as seen from Eastbourne was evidently with the same fantasmagoric eye as the composer.A cauldron of sounds waiting to erupt with ravishing melodic outpourings and savage dance rhythms just riding on waves that were leading to the final passionate outpouring and helter skelter finish.I remember Annie Fischer playing this as an encore in Rome with such naked passion as in this final outpouring she allowed the thumb in the left hand to pulsate with fiery passion that was X certificate indeed.

Sonya played it with the same animal passion and drive and her final theatrical flourishes just ignited a rather staid audience into awarding her an ovation and even a bunch of red roses from an ardent admirer.

No encores were possible after such an exhilarating and exciting journey into a wonderland of magic atmospheres and ravishing beauty.

In London, Sonya has performed in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Steinway Hall, the Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room) and in concert halls throughout Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, Romania and Australia. She now studies with Professor Norma Fisher and is a holder of the Nosward Charity Award scholarship while studying a Masters of Performance at the Royal College of Music. As well as having performed for members of the British Royal Family, Sonya has won many prizes in international music competitions across Australia and Europe; most notably the first prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso International music competition, Gold Medal in the Berliner International Music competition, first prize in the Hephzibah Menuhin Memorial Award piano competition and first prize in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rising Star competition.

Sonya has had concert engagements with orchestras since she was 15, most notably the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Richard Gill AO. She has been a finalist in the 3mbs Young Performer’s Award which was broadcast on 3mbsFM, Australia and a semi-finalist in the Pianale International music competition, Stockport International music competition and in the ROSL music competition. Sonya has participated in many International music festivals, such as the London Masterclasses, the AMALFI Coast Music Festival and the Virtuoso and Bel Canto music festival. She has worked with distinguished Professors including Boris Berman, John Perry, Jerome Lowenthal, Dimitri Alexeev, Ewa Pablocka, Ian Jones, Pavel Gililov, Grigory Gruzman, Ashley Wass and Gordon Fergus-Thompson.Alongside her piano performance, Sonya has recorded at the Abbey Road Studios as a violinist in the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and has had concerto engagements with orchestras, recitals and competition success as a solo violinist.