Sam Haywood at Mayfield School
A piano recital featuring works by Schubert, Beethoven and Chopin
Equally at home as soloist and chamber musician, Sam Haywood embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire. The New York Times hailed his ‘passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. He toured as a duo for many years with Joshua Bell and has often collaborated with cellist Steven Isserlis.
He is a champion of a number of lesser-known composers and has recorded solo albums of Julius Isserlis (Steven’s Russian grandfather) and Charles Villiers Stanford for Hyperion. His popular ‘Musical Liaisons’ recital programmes comprise famous works performed in pairs with lesser-known gems.
This afternoon’s programme is firmly rooted in familiar territory, however. Chopin has always been Sam’s greatest musical love and for his bicentenary in 2010, he recorded an album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano (1848, part of the Cobbe Collection).
He has composed several miniatures, including ‘The Other Side’, the premiere of which was given at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His ‘Song of the Penguins’ for bassoon and piano, dedicated to his friend Roger Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions. He has also made a number of arrangements for solo piano, some of which he will be performing at the Rudolfinum in Prague on 30th September.
He is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Solent Music Festival in Lymington, Hampshire, which also includes the prestigious Lawson-May Award for Composition.
This is Sam’s second visit to Mayfield School for Girls. The first was as a jury member for last year’s Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition. He currently lives in Tonbridge with his Greek wife Sophia, James (5), Archie (2) and Poppy, a cockapoo, who also loves to play the piano.
Programme
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Impromptu in A flat major D899
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonata quasi una fantasia Op 27 No 2 ‘Moonlight’
Adagio sostenuto
Allegretto
Presto agitato
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Fantasy Impromptu Op 66
Nocturne in D flat major Op 27 No 2
Polonaise in A flat major Op 53 ‘Heroic’
There will not be an interval during the performance.
Tickets
In addition to using the ‘Book Now’ button on this page to make a purchase online tickets can also be bought in person at Sew Inspired, High Street, Mayfield and on the door from 20 minutes before the performance (cash only, subject to availability). Please note that purchases made by debit card or credit card will incur a booking fee.
This concert is promoted by Mayfield School and supported by the Mayfield Festival
Photograph Credit: Morgan Scott, Breathe Image
