"Raymond Banning is a very special and distinguished pianist, whose values reflect the very best qualities of the Golden Era of pianism."

Yonty Solomon

The common audience consensus, after a Raymond Banning recital, is that it is rare to hear such a warm and sensitive piano sound these days. His recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall have drawn capacity audiences packed with notable figures from the arts world and have helped to establish him as a major performer in the tradition of the Great Romantic pianists.

Raymond Banning at the Wigmore Hall, March 2005

Raymond Banning's background is perhaps not quite the conventional one for concert performers. By sheer determination, he worked his way from a council estate, practising on his battered upright in the cupboard under the stairs, to the main concert platforms of this country, becoming Professor of Pianoforte at Trinity College of Music on the way.

Raymond was highly gifted from an early age and performed his first piano concertos in his teens, followed by study at Royal College of Music. After graduating he became dissatisfied with his piano playing, feeling that he was not able to produce the depth of expression he felt inside. He decided to enter the teaching profession and spent the next eight years as Head of Music at a school in Kent, developing a fine reputation for the excellence of his choral and musical productions.

Raymond Banning at the recording studio, December 2004

Conducting occupied much of Raymond's spare time. He worked with many amateur choirs and orchestras before directing his own professional orchestra in East Kent while still in his twenties. It regularly used to attract capacity audiences and some top name soloists.

Raymond Banning with Yonty Solomon, 2005

In the 1980s Raymond Banning left teaching and relinquished all other musical pursuits to dedicate himself to becoming a solo pianist on a national level. This brought him to the attention of John Bingham, then Head of Keyboard at Trinity College of Music, and in 1990 he invited Raymond to join the professorial staff at Trinity, where he soon established himself as a distinguished teacher and director of teachers’ courses.

He has been prominently featured in BBC Music Magazine, Classical Music magazine, Classic FM Magazine, and Readers Digest. He has also been featured on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and BBC World Service, and Classic FM, and in national newspapers such as The Times, The Independent and The Observer.

Raymond strongly believes that great music should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age and ability. With writer and broadcaster Richard Ingrams, he presides over the hugely popular piano weekends sponsored by The Oldie magazine, which allow amateur adult pianists to develop their playing skills.

Raymond Banning with Richard Ingrams, March 2005

Raymond also performs concerts of words and music with such artists as Edward Fox, Ian Hislop, Stephanie Cole and Dame Beryl Bainbridge.

Raymond Banning with Ian Hislop, March 2005

Born in Yorkshire in 1963 Lorraine grew up in a large family. Her grandmother, Lillian Blackmore, was an esteemed pianist and teacher in Devonshire. It was grandmother’s musical talent which kept the family going, financially, whilst her husband, Frederick Hicks, was away fighting in World War II.

All Lillian’s daughters learned to play the piano, and many evenings were spent round the piano in the war years.

Lorraine clearly inherited her grandmother’s musical flair, as, from an early age, she displayed great interest and talent for the performing arts, singing in choirs and acting, as well as playing the piano. She studied the piano from the age of ten with a scary teacher who would rap her knuckles with a ruler if she took her eyes off the music.

However, as Lorraine says, “this teacher had a large grand piano and from the first time I tried it I was hooked. From then on it was hard to shut me up, as I was constantly playing.”

Lorraine proved naturally talented, going on to achieve excellent exam results and playing in school concerts. She was set to audition for the leading music colleges when illness struck, causing Lorraine to embark on a different route with her musical education, continuing to develop privately rather than at music college.

When she married and had children she continued playing and teaching piano, then in 1995 she moved to Devon with her children. Here, Lorraine developed her playing further, studying with the highly regarded pianist and teacher Susan Steele, successfully gaining a diploma in piano performance. She also spent some time studying music at North Devon College.

Although this was not my original career plan, and it was often difficult to find the time to develop my performing, the whole experience of working in this hospice did, in fact, benefit my playing by deepening it considerably.”

Despite bouts of ill health, full-time work and bringing up two children, Lorraine achieved an Associated Board Diploma in Piano Performance during her years in Devon.

Lorraine met Raymond in 2006, and the two married in 2008 in Bedford, where they now have a popular and successful piano teaching practice. Lorraine is also increasingly in demand as a performer, both as a soloist and in duets with her husband, and for her workshops and lectures.

Her students have achieved 100% pass rate in examinations for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, both in piano and theory.