Ian Buckle enjoys a varied freelance career working as soloist, accompanist, chamber musician, orchestral pianist, teacher and ABRSM examiner. As concerto soloist, Ian has appeared with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, Opera North, Sinfonia ViVa and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Committed to contemporary music, he has been the pianist in Ensemble 10:10 since the group's inception, and his piano duo with Richard Casey specialises in music from the last and current centuries. He frequently collaborates with former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion performing recitals of piano music and poetry, recent programmes including Shropshire and Other Lads, a celebration of A. E. Housman; Anthem for Doomed Youth, a commemoration of World War One; and Philip Larkin’s England.

He is a member of both the piano-and-wind ensemble Zephyr and the Elysnan Horn Trio, formed when the group were students at the Royal Northern College of Music. He regularly plays piano in both the RLPO and the John Wilson Orchestra, and teaches at the Universities of Leeds and Liverpool. Current CD releases include transcriptions for cello and piano with Jonathan Aasgaard, a recital of new works for clarinet and piano with former BBC Young Musician winner Mark Simpson, a disc of English music with clarinettist Nicholas Cox and a CD with Andrew Long of music for violin and piano by Edward German. Recordings in the pipeline include the songs of Stephen Wilkinson and Gershwin’s New York Rhapsody with the John Wilson Orchestra. Ian holds a season ticket at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, and is an enthusiast of French cinema and nice restaurants.