Sam Haywood - Musical Liaisons with Chopin

Sam Haywood has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus and the Wigmore Hall. The New York Times hailed his ‘‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. He has a special fondness for Indonesia, where he has performed and taught for many years.

He embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician or working with singers. He has toured extensively as a duo with American violinist Joshua Bell, including a recital and at the Rudolfinium in Prague, broadcast live on Czech Radio.

He has composed several instrumental miniatures, including 'The Other Side', first performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions. He is currently working on a commission for piano and string quartet.

Passionate about early instruments, Haywood recorded a Chopin album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano, part of the Cobbe Collection, to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010. Other recordings include Stanford’s Preludes and the piano works of Julius Isserlis (grandfather of Steven Isserlis) for Hyperion Records. For Sony he has recorded a selection of works by the child prodigy Alma Deutscher and a trio on Joshua Bell’s Musical Gifts album with Steven Isserlis. He is soon due to release an album of piano works by the Czech composer Jelena Pouličková.

Haywood is also Artistic Director and co-founder of the Solent Music Festival, which takes place annually in the beautiful sailing town of Lymington, UK.