Sam Haywood

 

‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’
New York Times

‘Dazzling, evocative playing’
Washington Post

‘Haywood is masterly throughout,
his playing beautifully weighted,
clean and imaginative – in short,
just what this music needs
to lift it off the page.’
Limelight

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 and also with cellist Steven Isserlis.

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

For Hyperion Records, Haywood has recorded two albums of music by Charles Villiers Stanford and Julius Isserlis. Passionate about early instruments, he also recorded a Chopin album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano, part of the Cobbe Collection, to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010. For Sony Classical he has recorded a selection of works by the child prodigy Alma Deutscher and for Toccata Classics the violin and piano sonatas of Agnes Zimmermann with Mathilde Milwidsky. His recording of Mozart, Poulenc and Thuille with the Galliard Ensemble is soon to be released by Deux-Elles Records.

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. The 11th festival will take place at St Thomas Church from 29 May to 4th June 2023. 

Recordings

  • Stanford Preludes (Hyperion)
  • Julius Isserlis Piano Works (Hyperion)
  • Composers in Love (Blackbird)
  • Chopin’s Own Piano (Cobbe Collection)
  • Zimmermann Violin and Piano Sonatas (Toccata Classics)
  • The Music of Alma Deutscher
  • Mozart, Thuille, Poulenc and Francaix with the Galliard Ensemble (Deux-Elles)
  • Brahms Piano and Cello Sonatas with Martin Storey (Oxford Classics)

Musical Liaisons

In these programmes, Sam Haywood performs famous works in pairs with lesser-known ones. They are all linked harmonically and carefully chosen to complement each other.

The idea is for the audience to experience the pleasure of hearing the familiar, and at the the same time something they may not have heard.

Repertoire includes famous works by:
Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Beethoven 

paired with rarities by:
Melanie Bonis, Germaine Tailleferre, Clothilde Arias, Vitezslawa Kaprálová, Jelena Poulíčková, Charles Stanford, Julius Isserlis, Lily Boulanger 

Short introductions will be given from the stage before each pair.

On the Balcony


During six months of lockdown in Greece, Sam recorded a series of pieces for the virtual concert series of the Sociedad Filharmonica de Lima. 

In the absence of a real piano in his apartment, he worked on a Yamaha P-515 digital instrument. 

The whole series can be found on his Facebook/YouTube pages below. 

Selection of Compositions by Sam Haywood

PR Photos

Click to download hi-res images

Solent Music Festival

Some of the wonderful artists we’ve had over the years.

2023 dates: 29 May – 4 June 

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Memorystars

I recently tried Memorystars out on my 7 year old son who was learning a short beginners piano piece. He is the kind of kid who is usually glued to the music and finds it challenging to memorise music.
The result – miraculous! I kid you not, within 15 minutes he’d memorised his little piece.

Nicole Wilson

Director, Musical Orbit

Contact Sam

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email: mail@samhaywood.com
WhatsApp/Viber/Signal: +44 7944 320706