Eliza McCarthy is a London-based pianist celebrated for her bold and distinctive performances of new and experimental music. She appears as both soloist and ensemble musician in concert halls, art galleries, theatres, living rooms and car parks across the UK, Europe and the United States.

Deeply committed to developing close creative relationships with composers, she has commissioned, premiered and recorded works by many leading figures including John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Crumb, Tansy Davies, Donnacha Dennehy, Kit Downes, Jonny Greenwood, Cassandra Miller, Nico Muhly, Emma O’Halloran and Laurie Spiegel. She collaborates regularly with composer and filmmaker Mica Levi; in June 2024 McCarthy premiered Levi’s solo piano work The Bag at LSO St Luke’s. Their album Slow Dark Green Murky Waterfall was released in 2018 on the Slip label.

Recent highlights include performances of a piano concerto written for her by Dennehy in Dublin (with Crash Ensemble at the National Concert Hall), New York (at National Sawdust with Contemporaneous), and most recently at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil New Music Group conducted by Adams. Other recent appearances include the London premiere of Philip Glass’s North Star at the Royal Festival Hall, a performance of Greenwood’s eight-hour organ work X Years of Reverb at the Big Ears Festival, and a collaboration with Nan Goldin and Soundwalk Collective on Goldin’s film Memory Lost.

Her discography spans releases on NMC, Signum Records, Milan Records, Slip, Diatribe Records, Foom, WW Records and Clay Pipe Music. Her next album, Limina, recorded with the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, will be released in summer 2026 on Nonesuch Records.

Alongside her solo work, McCarthy is a member of the James McVinnie Ensemble and Ireland’s leading new music group, Crash Ensemble. She collaborates and works regularly with soprano Juliet Fraser, pianist Siwan Rhys, the London Symphony Orchestra and Irish National Opera.

In addition to her performing career, she is Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London. She also works with musicians on mindfulness-based approaches, supporting artists in navigating fear, anxiety and depression.