Born in Shrewsbury in 2001, but emigrating the following year to Korea, Elias Ackerley began his piano studies at the age of five in Daegu, South Korea. After making rapid progress, he was taken on by Russian pianist, Oleg Shitin, under whose guidance Elias knew success in a number of competitions, including winning the junior prize at the Gumi National Piano Competition in 2012.
In May 2013, at the age of eleven, Elias gave his debut recital in Chester, UK and has performed regularly in concerts since throughout Great Britain, including as a soloist with a number of orchestras).
Between 2014 and 2019 Elias was a student at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where he was a pupil of Dr Murray McLachlan (Head of Keyboard), under whose tutelage Elias succeeded in becoming the youngest ever winner of the Chetham’s Beethoven Competition in 2015.
More recently, Elias won First Prize at the Scottish International Youth Piano Competition (2017), the Blue Ribbon at the National Eisteddfod (2017) and the EPTA UK Piano Competition (2018). In 2018 he was also a keyboard finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition. The following year, Elias won First Prize in the Duet Group’s Chopin Competition in the UK as well as winning the Bösendorfer Competition held at Chetham’s, Manchester. Elias also won the Silver Medal in the Vienna International Music Competition, under 20s category.
Elias has participated in masterclasses with Sir Andras Schiff, Angela Hewitt, Stephen Hough and Emmanuel Ax – and had lessons with Lesley Howard, Boris Berman and Robert McDonald.
Elias is currently a pupil of Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, USA.
