Eric Parkin (24 March 1924 – 3 February 2020) was an English pianist.^[1]

Parkin was born inStevenage and attendedAlleyne's Grammar School there.^[2] He studied atTrinity College of Music with the Anglo-French pianist Frank Laffitte and withGeorge Oldroyd. He also studied conducting withCharles Kennedy Scott and composition withHenry Geehl.^[3] He began working in the 1940s as a cocktail pianist atThe May Fair Hotel, making his classical debut at theWigmore Hall in 1948 with a recital of Beethoven and Chopin.^[4]

Parkin quickly became a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio.^[5] Having met the composerJohn Ireland he made hisProms debut playing the Ireland Piano Concerto in 1953, withMalcolm Sargent and theBBC Symphony Orchestra.^[6] Although his musical interests spanned the Classical and Romantic periods, he became best known for his recorded performances and recitals of 20th-century British music, including works byWilliam Baines,Arnold Bax,William Blezard,Frank Bridge,Alan Bush,Geoffrey Bush,Peter Dickinson,David Gow,Kenneth Leighton,Billy Mayerl,E J Moeran andRichard Stoker. Later in life he increasingly recorded French and American repertoire, includingPoulenc,Roussel,Barber andCopland.^[3][7] He recorded more than 80 albums over his career from the early 1950s onwards, forArgo,Lyrita,Chandos,Priory andUnicorn.^[8]

Parkin was a professor at Trinity College from 1945 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1967.^[2] He then taught piano atBulmershe College in Reading, Berkshire (later merged withReading University). He lived with his partner Rees Morgans for 57 years at Greengates Cottage inWatlington, Oxon.^[9] Parkin died on 3 February 2020, aged 95.