David Silkoff studied the piano with Lina Collins, a pupil of Mathilde Verne who was taught by Clara Schumann. He won a Junior Exhibition to the Guildhall School of Music and studied with Ieuan Roberts. He later became a full time student at the Royal College of Music where he studied with Kendal Taylor and Cyril Smith; during this time he won a Martin Scholarship for further study. David also studied at the Royal Academy for two years with Gordon Green and won the Lloyd Hartley prize. In 1971 David performed the Beethoven 3rd piano concerto in the Maltings at Snape with the Redbridge Musici Orchestra; in attendance were Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and Imogen Holst. Benjamin Britten commented on David’s “electrifying performance”.
In 1975 he gave a highly successful Wigmore Hall debut which was highly praised in the ‘Review of London Recitals’ which mentioned his “glowing technique and highly sensitive playing”. David has performed as a soloist around Britain and abroad in recitals and concertos; his repertoire ranges from Bach and Beethoven to Schoenberg and Ligeti and in October 2015 he gave the première performance of Schoenberg’s ‘Verklärte Nacht’ transcribed for solo piano. He is highly sought after as an accompanist in duos and chamber music, plays for the Islington Camerata and accompanies regularly for auditions and exams. As a performer of popular music, David entertains for corporate events and has played at many of the top London venues such as the Ritz and Dorchester hotels, Whitehall and the Guildhall.
David has given recitals at the Forge in Camden and for the London Schubert Society. Over the years he has performed with Kings College Orchestra, London, as well as Essex Symphony and Brentwood Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2010 he played Brahms’s 1st concerto with the Woodford Symphony Orchestra and in 2013 he again performed Rachmaninov’s 2nd concerto for the Woodford Symphony Orchestra’s 60th Anniversary. In 2014, David played the Mendelssohn G minor concerto with the Aminta Orchestra at St James, Piccadilly for their 30th Anniversary Celebration concert.
David also has a busy and successful teaching career in schools and privately.
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