Dominic Downs graduated from Royal Northern College of Music in 2026, with a first-class honours degree in piano performance. At RNCM he was taught by Dr Murray McLachlan, with additional coaching from Professor Danny Driver (Royal College of Music).

He previously trained at Chetham’s School of Music, studying piano with Jonathan Middleton, jazz piano with Les Chisnell, and composition and conducting with Dr Jeremy Pike. He has also received artistic guidance from many leading pianists including Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe, Penelope Roskell and Joanna MacGregor. He is continuing advanced study with Martin Roscoe, while also studying choral conducting with Stuart Overington.

He was awarded a composition scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 2023 before beginning his performance studies at RNCM.

A prize-winning pianist, conductor and composer, Dominic has been performing across the UK since 2023, and has already attracted national attention; he featured on BBC One in October 2023, where he was described as “an exceptional talent with a bright future ahead of him.” Recent critical acclaim from the Brighton Fringe Review highlights “a very fine communicator…a true showman as well as a virtuoso,” praising his “tenebrous, powerfully voiced” Bach, the “obsessive” drama of his Beethoven Tempest, and his “lyrical Modernism” in Kabalevsky’s miniatures while the Southport News praised his November 2024 recital as “the performance of a true virtuoso.”

Dominic gave 28 solo performances across the UK in the 2025/26 season, alongside chamber projects and diverse engagements such as live accompaniment for silent films and jazz ensemble performance. He was selected to appear in a sell-out concert with Steven Osborne (June 2025), and his recital calendar is almost fully booked for 2026/27 season.

Alongside performing, Dominic maintains a thriving teaching practice, including a 100% record in getting his advanced students places in prestigious music schools and conservatoires, and leads masterclasses and workshops. As Music Director of the Lancaster Millennium Choir, he guided them to victory in the prestigious Lancashire Choir of the Year competition in his first season. He also works with the ADHD Foundation to raise awareness of neurodiversity through performance and is currently preparing to record his debut album with multi-award-winning classical producer Andrew Keener in October 2026.

A new autumn season of FREE Wednesday lunchtime concerts at Tŷ Pawb

9/9/26
1pm
Rufus Edwards (Piano)

23/9/26
1pm
Nova Saxophone Quartet

7/10/26
1pm
Simeon Walker
(Piano)

28/10/26
1pm
Dominic Downs
(Piano)

11/11/26
1pm
Cambrian Harps: Katie Hedley
(Telyn / Harp)