Born in Brussels, Belgium, Sharon Barnea has recently earned his Masters of Music in Advanced Performance, with distinction, at the Royal College of Music, London. He has previously completed his Bachelor of Music degree at the same institution, and the full music programme at the Académie de Musique de Waterloo, Belgium, with Dalia Ouziel and Benjamin Erlich.

Since coming to London in 1999, Sharon has been working extensively with Andrew Ball, Irina Zaritskaya and Yonty Solomon, himself a pupil of Dame Myra Hess. He has participated in many prestigious masterclasses and lessons in Belgium, England, Germany, Spain, in the U.S.A. and in Israel, playing for eminent artists such as Galina Egyazarova, John O’Conor, Pavel Gililov, Bernard Roberts, Joseph Banowetz, Oxana Yablonskaja, Emanuel Ax, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Murray Perahia.

Sharon has made his concerto debut in the U.S.A. at the age of seventeen, playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, K. 414 and Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto in G minor, op. 22. In England, he has appeared on numerous concert venues including the famous Pump Room in Bath and the Steinway Hall in London. In 2006, Sharon gave a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in C minor, K. 491, at the Royal College of Music, London, playing F. Busoni’s unusual and rarely performed cadenzas. In 2005, he shared the platform with the St Petersburg String Quartet in a concert broadcasted live on Belgian national radio Musiq’3. In 2004, he won both solo and concerto competitions at the Brevard Music Center, North Carolina, U.S.A., where he performed Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto in B-flat, op. 19. His other awards include the First Prizes at the Excellentia Competition, Brussels, in 1999 and 2001, and the First Prize at the International Piano Concerto Competition, Tennessee, U.S.A., in 1998 and 1999.

In addition to performing as a soloist, Sharon is a dedicated and versatile chamber musician, playing regularly as a duo group with pianist Famia Choi Castro, and collaborating with fellow musicians in a wide range of repertoire. Sharon is also an active piano teacher, constantly striving to broaden his horizons in music performance, education, technology and more.