Hewitt, Angela Mary (1958– )

Canadian-British pianist. Known as one of the world's leading Johann Sebastian Bach pianists, she recorded all of his major keyboard music 1994–2005. Her repertoire also includes recordings of a range of classical artists including Enrique Granados, Oliver Messiaen, Maurice Ravel, Frédéric Chopin, Françoise Couperin, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Robert Schumann. Her style is considered very pure, articulating the creation of the composer.

Hewitt launched the Trasimeno Music Festival, near Perugia in Umbria, Italy, in 2005. During the week-long festival, Hewitt performs with and conducts a range of musicians from around the world.

Hewitt was born in Ottawa, Canada, where her father was the cathedral organist and her mother was a high-school music and English teacher. She began playing piano at the age of three, performed in public from the age of five, and also studied violin, recorder, voice, and ballet. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto 1964–73 and with French pianist Jean-Paul Sévilla at the University of Ottawa, from where she received a bachelor's degree in music in 1977. She soon developed a substantial following, but became internationally renowned after winning the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition in 1985. After winning a number of other piano competitions and awards, she received the inaugural BBC Radio 3 Listener's Award in 2003 and was named Gramophone Artist of the Year in 2006.