Performing / Soloist

Dr. Cathal Breslin has been praised internationally as one of the most compelling pianists of his generation. Critics have described the “superb intensity and passion” of his playing (Cleveland Plain Dealer), his “energized and energizing” performances (Belfast Telegraph), and his “deep connection to the music” (Tampa Oracle). His interpretations have been admired for their “noble poetry and perfumed pianissimo” (The Independent, London), as well as a recent CD review by critic Bryce Morrison, which stated that “Breslin’s unfaltering musical commitment and technical strength means that his re-creation is all-powerful”….“unleashing an elemental fury where every note comes at you with weight and significance”….and “The familiar made unfamiliar not through idiosyncrasy but through an unfaltering sense of vision” (The Art of Pianists).

Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, Dr. Breslin has performed solo recitals in major concert halls throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

In Europe, recent performances have taken place in leading venues in Dublin, Belfast, London, Madrid, Málaga, Valencia, Milan, Lisbon, Sofia, and Warsaw. In Asia, he has appeared extensively throughout China—including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuhan, Qingdao, Ningbo, Suzhou, Chengdu, and Chongqing—as well as in Seoul and Busan in South Korea, Taipei in Taiwan, and Tokyo in Japan. In South America, recent recitals have included performances in Medellín, Colombia, and São Paulo, Brazil.

As a concerto soloist, his repertoire spans from the Classical era to the modern day, including works by Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Poulenc, Ó Riada, Shostakovich, and Takemitsu. He has appeared with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, BBC Ulster Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Turin Philharmonic, Camerata Ireland, Memphis Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, Jackson Symphony, and the Arizona MusicFest Orchestra, collaborating with distinguished conductors including Vladimir Altschuler, Giovanni Battista Rigon, David Brophy, Matthew Coorey, Barry Douglas, Christian Gansch, Gearóid Grant, Robert Houlihan, Courtney Lewis, Robert Moody, Peter Shannon, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and Niklas Willén.

Collaborative Pianist / Chamber Musician

An active and versatile collaborator, Dr. Breslin performs regularly as a member of Trio Festivale, an internationally touring flute–cello–piano ensemble that commissions and performs new works. He has appeared extensively in duo and chamber recitals with flutists Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway; sopranos Measha Brueggergosman and Ailish Tynan; violinists Augustin Dumay, Anne Akiko Meyers, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Kirill Troussov, and Ye-Eun Choi; oboist Nicholas Daniel; cellists Jan Vogler, Raphael Wallfisch, Jeffrey Zeigler, and Arto Noras; pianists Awadagin Pratt and Barry Douglas; clarinetist Michel Lethiec; hornist Richard Watkins; and percussionists/composer Andy Akiho and Ian Rosenbaum..

Additional chamber music collaborations have included performances with the Brodsky Quartet, Fitzwilliam Quartet, Coull Quartet, Ceruti Quartet, and Houston Symphony Winds. Recent highlights include major concert tours of the United States and Canada with Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway, recitals with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Measha Brueggergosman, and performances of landmark concerto works including Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1, Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2, Liszt Totentanz, Beethoven Concerto No. 3, and Poulenc’s Double Piano Concerto.

Competitions, Recordings, and Broadcasts

Dr. Breslin was awarded the Bronze Medal at the Viotti International Piano Competition in Vercelli/Milan, Italy, a World Federation of International Music Competitions event. Additional international competition successes include top prizes at Carlet (Valencia), Grand Konzerteum (Athens), and Iowa in the United States. He has broadcast regularly for BBC Radio 3, RTÉ, BBC Radio Ulster, and RTVE Spain, and has appeared frequently on television in the United States, Japan, China, Spain, and Ireland. His recordings of works by Mozart and Takemitsu for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) network have been broadcast in over 30 countries worldwide, including on NPR, BBC, and ABC.

In 2020, he released the critically acclaimed solo piano album Mirage and in 2026 the solo piano album Stories & Soundscapes, which received rave reviews including “Even when blessed with many classic recordings whether from the past (Cortot, Rubinstein, Moiseiwitsch etc) or present (Ashkenazy, Zimmerman, Perahia etc), Breslin makes you re-think the Ballades in all their rhetorical grandeur and audacity.” (Bryce Morrison)

Education and Training

Dr. Breslin began his conservatory studies at the Royal College of Music in London with John Barstow, continuing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Kathryn Stott, Benjamin Frith, and Alexander Melnikov. He then lived in Madrid, studying with Joaquín Soriano at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música. In 2008, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Arthur Greene as a Fulbright Scholar and Teaching Assistant.

Throughout his career, he has been grateful for the generous support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, BBC Young Artists Programme, Culture Ireland, Diageo Ireland, Fulbright U.S. and Ireland, and the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholars Programme.

Artistic Director

In 2008, Dr. Breslin and his wife, American flutist Dr. Sabrina Hu, became Founding Artistic Directors of the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Northern Ireland. The festival was created to foster a brighter future for young musicians in Northern Ireland through bold programming, artistic excellence, and deep community engagement. Walled City Music has featured artists such as Sir James Galway, Kronos Quartet, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Jeremy Denk, Augustin Dumay, Anne Akiko Meyers, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jan Vogler, Raphael Wallfisch, Li-Wei Qin, Jeffrey Zeigler, Nicholas Daniel, Andy Akiho, Tine Thing Helseth, Emma Johnson, Colin Currie, Jonathan Fa’afetai Lemalu, Houston Symphony Winds, and many others.

He also founded the WCM International Piano Festival and Competition, an annual event attracting hundreds of young musicians from over 20 countries.

Teaching / Professor

Dr. Breslin is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Arizona State University in the School of Music, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. From 2013–2019, he served as Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Piano Studies at the University of Memphis. Previous faculty appointments include Bucknell University, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and Queen’s University Belfast.

He has given masterclasses and lectures at universities and conservatories throughout the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Portugal, Bulgaria, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Colombia, Brazil, and has served as a jury member for major national and international competitions, including the Valencia International Piano Competition “José Iturbi” in Spain and others.

In 2020, he initiated the first historic four-city simultaneous teaching project using Yamaha Disklavier technology, receiving international media coverage including PBS Television. He has been an exclusive Yamaha Artist since 2019.