Roger Vignoles is one of the most distinguished piano accompanists of our time. In a career spanning five decades, he has become recognized throughout the world as a leading exponent of the art of song.
He has appeared at all the world’s principal venues and festivals, from the Concertgebouw to Carnegie Hall, and with many of the world’s foremost artists, such as Sir Thomas Allen, Barbara Bonney, Christine Brewer, Florian Boesch, Bernarda Fink, Elina Garanca, Susan Graham, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott, Mark Padmore, Christoph Prégardien, and Sarah Walker.
Vignoles recently celebrated his 70th birthday in July 2015 at the Wigmore Hall with a star-studded cast of singers, of which Classical Source summed up his continuing contribution to the world of music as a “wonderful pianist, superb musician, and ace accompanist.”
His extensive discography includes a long and fruitful association with Hyperion Records, recently crowned by the completion of the Complete Songs of Richard Strauss. Other notable recordings include Reynaldo Hahn with Susan Graham; Schumann, Brahms, and Dvořák with Bernarda Fink; Schubert, Loewe, and Krenek with Florian Boesch; Britten and Finzi with Mark Padmore; Fauré, Wolf, Rachmaninov, Chausson, and Koechlin with Marie-Nicole Lemieux; and a wide range from Schubert to Cabaret Songs with Sarah Walker.
Recent engagements include an all-Tchaikovsky programme with Sofia Fomina at de Singel Antwerp, recitals in London, Toulouse, Marseille, Stuttgart, and Quebec with Marie-Nicole Lemieux, with Roderick Williams in Aarhus, with Michael Spyres at Opéra national du Rhin and La Monnaie, with Christoph Prégardien in Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Madrid, with Elena Copons and Marta Fontanals-Simmons at the Fundación Juan March, and several appearances at Wigmore Hall with Elizabeth Watts, James Gilchrist, Nash Ensemble, Julia Sitkovetsky, Nardus Williams, and Johannes Kammler. Vignoles had a residency at the Bogota International Music Festival, as well as masterclasses at Tanglewood Music Center, the Marlboro Music Festival, National University of Singapore, the Cleveland Art Song Festival, and the Aldeburgh Festival.
While continuing his busy playing career, Vignoles is deeply committed to working with and coaching younger singers and pianists. He gives frequent masterclasses and workshops in Europe, Scandinavia, and the US, where he is a regular visitor to the Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center. He is an Honourary fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and Prince Consort Professor of Accompaniment at the Royal College of Music.
Originally inspired to pursue a career as a piano accompanist by the playing of Gerald Moore, Vignoles read music at Magdalene College, Cambridge, studied piano and accompaniment at the RCM, and later joined the Royal Opera House as a repetiteur. He completed his training with the renowned Viennese-born pianist and coach Paul Hamburger.