Elias Ackerley
- Piano
Elias Ackerley was born in 2001 in Shrewsbury in England. After his family moved to South Korea, he began piano studies at the age of five and went on to study with Russian pianist Oleg Shitin. He returned to the UK at age eleven and gave his debut recital in Chester. Since then, he has performed regularly in both the UK and South Korea. Between 2014 and 2019, Ackerley studied with Dr. Murray McLachlan at Chetham’s School of Music, where he won the first prize at Chetham’s Beethoven Competition. His major competition achievements include first prizes at the Scottish International Youth Piano Competition, the EPTA UK Competition, the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and a second prize at the Roma International Chopin Competition. More recently, he was a prizewinner at the Aarhus International Piano Competition in 2023, a finalist at the Montreal International Piano Competition 2024, and was invited to perform at the Kumho Young Artist Opening Concert in 2025.
He continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Gary Graffman and Meng-Chieh Liu and at the Juilliard School with Robert McDonald. He has also participated in masterclasses with distinguished pianists including Sir András Schiff, Stephen Hough, Boris Berman, Angela Hewitt, and Leslie Howard. Ackerley’s notable performances include solo recitals at the Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, concerts in Copenhagen and Philadelphia, and appearances with orchestras such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Symphony, as well as at the Kneisel Hall Festival.
In 2025, Elias Ackerley was awarded second prize at the 74th ARD International Music Competition.
repertoire
1st Round
- Domenico Scarlatti, Sonate K.125
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Das Wohltemperierte Klavier II: Präludium und Fuge Nr. 16 BWV 885
- Frédéric Chopin, Etüde op. 10 Nr. 12
- Lera Auerbach, Milking darkness für Klavier solo
2nd Round
- Maurice Ravel, La Valse. Fassung für Klavier
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonate op. 10 Nr. 31
- Robert Schumann, Symphonische Etüden op. 13
Semifinals
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Konzert für Klavier und Orchester Op. 19 Nr. 2
- Enno Poppe, Zaun für Klavier solo
Finals
- Sergej Prokofjew, Konzert Nr. 2 g-Moll, op. 16
