Biography
Sponsored by Sir Elton John on a full scholarship, Benji Lock is a third-year pianist at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he studies with Tatiana Sarkissov and Florian Mitrea. Born in Port Talbot, Benji began playing on a second-hand piano before attending the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Junior Department, where he became an ABRSM Scholar.
In 2017, he won a scholarship to the Purcell School for Young Musicians, studying with Caterina Grewe and Florian Mitrea, and won 1st Prize at major competitions including the Wales International Piano Competition and the Purcell School Concerto Competition.
He has recently been shortlisted for the Vienna International Music Competition 2025 and the Norah Sande Award 2025, and has appeared several times as a concerto soloist with the London Firebird Orchestra, performing a wide range of concerto repertoire including Mozart, Schumann, Chopin, and Mendelssohn. Benji has performed widely across the UK and Europe, with appearances at leading venues such as Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, and Sledmere House, as well as at major festivals including Budleigh Salterton and Bloomsbury.
His artistic development has been further shaped through masterclasses with world-renowned pianists and teachers such as Natalia Trull, Dmitri Alexeev, Peter Nagy and Ji Liu. An accomplished composer, Benji was shortlisted for the BBC Young Composer Award in 2019 and has a particular interest in film composition.
