Young pianist to star at St Peter's Church on Saturday
A talented musician is set to entertain at Burnley's parish church on Saturday.
Dominic Downs, a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, will perform works by Bach, Chopin and Debussy, in addition to one of his own compositions.
Taught at the Royal by Dr Murray McLachlan, with additional coaching from Professor Danny Driver of the Royal College of Music, Dominic previously trained at Chetham’s School of Music, studying piano with Jonathan Middleton, jazz piano with Les Chisnell, and composition and conducting with Dr Jeremy Pike.
He has also received artistic guidance from many leading pianists including Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe, Penelope Roskell and Joanna MacGregor. Dominic is continuing advanced study with Martin Roscoe, while also undertaking choral conducting with Stuart Overington.
Dominic was awarded a composition scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 2023, before beginning his performance studies at RNCM.
A prize-winning pianist, conductor and composer, Dominic has been performing across the UK since 2023, and has already attracted national attention.
He featured on BBC One in October 2023, where he was described as “an exceptional talent with a bright future ahead of him.”
Recent critical acclaim from the Brighton Fringe Review highlights “a very fine communicator, a true showman, as well as a virtuoso,” praising his “tenebrous, powerfully voiced” Bach, the “obsessive” drama of his Beethoven Tempest, and his “lyrical Modernism” in Kabalevsky’s miniatures, while the Southport News praised his November 2024 recital as “the performance of a true virtuoso.”
Dominic gave 28 solo performances across the UK in the 2025/26 season, alongside chamber projects and diverse engagements such as live accompaniment for silent films and jazz ensemble performance. He was selected to appear in a sell-out concert with Steven Osborne in 2025 and his recital calendar is almost fully booked for 2026/27 season.
Alongside performing, Dominic maintains a thriving teaching practice, including a 100% record in getting his advanced students places in prestigious music schools and conservatoires, and leads masterclasses and workshops.
As music director of the Lancaster Millennium Choir, he guided them to victory in the prestigious Lancashire Choir of the Year competition in his first season. He also works with the ADHD Foundation to raise awareness of neurodiversity through performance and is currently preparing to record his debut album with multi-award-winning classical producer Andrew Keener in October 2026.
Saturday's concert starts at 11 a.m. and admission is £7, with under 18's free of charge and which includes refreshments served from 10-30 a.m. and parking in the school yard in Rawcliffe Street and in the church yard for disabled drivers.
More information is available via https://stpetersburnley.com/music/saturday-morning-concerts