Sam Haywood has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Tonhalle in Zürich, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Philharmonie de Paris, the Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Prague’s Ruldofinum. The New York Times hailed his ‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’.
Sam embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as soloist and chamber musician. His highly acclaimed duo with violinist Joshua Bell toured all over the world for over a decade and he has also performed on many occasions with cellist Steven Isserlis. Private audiences have included the late Princess Diana, the then Vice-Presidents Biden and Xi, Hillary Clinton, HRHs The Duke and Duchess of Kent and David Attenborough.
He has released two solo albums of music for Hyperion Records, and other recordings for Sony, DeuxElles and Toccata Classics. Passionate about early instruments, he made a Chopin disc on the composer’s own Pleyel piano to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010.
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 is published by Emerson Editions.
Sam is also the Artistic Director and co-founder (with his wife Sophia) of the Solent Music Festival, set in the beautiful sailing town of Lymington. Guest artists over the past twelve years have included Steven Isserlis, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Michael Portillo (his ‘Piano Desert Island Discs’), The King’s Singers and Tenebrae. The festival now has its own orchestra, comprising mainly members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the City of London Sinfonia.
He lives in Tonbridge with Sophia, their two sons James (5) and Archie (2) and Poppy the cockapoo. Amongst his non-musical passions are magic, Greek food, walking in the Kent countryside with Poppy, getting lost in a book, writing letters in cafés with a fountain pen, good coffee and airfryers.
www.samhaywood.com
@samhaywoodmusic