DANIEL PIORO

Daniel Pioro is a violinist to watch – uncompromising about speaking his mind, whether it comes to challenging mediocrity, championing new works or combining ancient and modern. He talks to Tom Stewart about his philosophy, his new album, and the fresh ideas he is bringing to his ongoing residency at London’s Southbank Centre

DAVID JAMES GRINLY

The cries of a baby bounce between the bare concrete walls of British violinist Daniel Pioro’s home, not far from London’s Barbican Centre. His son is just a few months old, and Pioro, 36, is keen to lead by example from the start. ‘All my life I’ve said no to stuff very confidently,’ he explains. ‘Now, suddenly, it’s even more important to ask why I’m doing something, and not just because of the time I’m spending away from home. I want my son to learn to do the same: to ask himself, before he agrees to do anything, why he’s saying yes.’ If he’s anything like his father, this is a child likely to know his own mind. Over the next hour, Pioro speaks emphatically about the kind of music making he enjoys (with ample rehearsal time, opportunities to build relationships and often, but not always, new repertoire) and the kind he would rather avoid (everything else).

In the past twelve months, Pioro has become a father, made an eclectic new recording – about to be released – that spans almost a millennium of music, and curated a series of performances at London’s Southbank Centre, where he is artist-in-residence for the 2022–3 season. Pioro was born in the UK to Polish parents, both visual artists, and, for the most part, his CV is focused on new music. After graduating from London’s Royal Academy of Music in 2010, he became leader of the London Contemporary Orchestra, a group that has become known for looking outside the classical world for its ear- and eye-opening programmes. He left in 2016 and continued leading a contemporary music ensemble for three years before releasing Dust, an album of new music for violin and electronics. He gave the premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s Horror vacui at the BBC Proms in 2019, in 2021 he premiered Tom Coult’s Pleasure Garden, and Thomas Adès’s Violin Concerto features in his repertoire.