Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough is widely regarded as one of the most important and distinctive pianists of his generation. In recognition of his achievements, he was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, joining prominent scientists, writers and others who have made unique contributions to contemporary life. He is also the 2008 winner of Northwestern University School of Music’s Jean Gimbel Lane prize in Piano Performance.
Mr. Hough has appeared with most of the major American and European orchestras and plays recitals regularly in the major halls and concert series around the world. He is also a guest at festivals such as Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh and the BBC Proms, where he has made over a dozen concerto appearances. Recent engagements include performances with the New York, Los Angeles and London Philharmonics, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, London Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic in a worldwide televised performance with Sir Simon Rattle, and a US tour with the Russian National Orchestra led by Vladimir Jurowski.
Over the next season, Stephen Hough returns to the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Detroit and Baltimore symphonies among others; plays recitals in Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London; begins recording all of the Tchaikovsky piano concertos in live concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra led by Osmo Vanska for Hyperion; and makes numerous other orchestral and recital appearances, including in London, Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Sydney. In addition, he tours with the Irish Chamber Orchestra as pianist, conductor and composer.
An exclusive Hyperion recording artist, many of Mr. Hough’s catalogue of over 40 CDs have garnered international prizes, including the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’or, Monde de la musique, multiple awards from Gramophone Magazine (seven Awards including 'Record of the Year' in 1996 and 2003) and several Grammy nominations. His 2005 live recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos with the Dallas Symphony and Andrew Litton became the fastest selling recording in Hyperion's history, while his 1987 recording of Hummel concertos is Chandos' best-selling disc to date. At the Classic FM Gramophone Awards in September 2008, his recording of the complete works for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saens received the Golden Disc award for being voted the most popular recording of the past thirty years. His most recent release is A Mozart Album, with works by Mozart, Johann Baptist Cramer, Ignaz Friedman, Liszt/Busoni and Hough.
Stephen Hough is also an avid writer and composer. In addition to scholarly and critically-acclaimed CD liner notes and published musical articles, his interest in theology has led to a book, The Bible as Prayer, which was published in the US and Canada by Paulist Press in September 2007. Earlier that same year his cello concerto was premiered by Steven Isserlis and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and two choral works - Mass of Innocence and Experience and Missa Mirabilis - were performed at London’s Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral respectively. Mr. Hough has also published numerous compositions with Josef Weinberger Ltd.
A resident of London, Stephen Hough is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester.
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