Hugh Petter read music at Oxford and then won a scholarship to study the piano at the Royal Academy of Music. He made his debut playing Liszt’s E flat piano concerto with Sir Charles Groves and the Liverpool Philharmonic. His London recitals won critical attention for the intensity of his playing of works of the late romantic period. His repertoire stretches from Bach to Bartók and has included the complete Beethoven sonatas. For many years he worked as a lecturer for the extramural departments of London, Reading and Oxford universities. He worked as an improvising pianist at RADA and was pianist for the experimental improvisation group Theatre Machine. For 10 years he co-produced the annual cabaret at the BADA summer school. In recent years he has given many classical recitals on P&O cruise ships and the Queen Mary 2, and plays tonight’s solos as finales.