- Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough (born
November 22 ,1961 ) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality. [ [http://www.stephenhough.com/site/writings/australian_citizen.htm Why I Became An Australian Citizen ] ]Hough was born in
Heswall (then inCheshire ) on theWirral Peninsula , and grew up inHoylake , where he began piano lessons at the age of five. In 1978, he was a finalist in theBBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and won the piano section. In 1982, he won theTerence Judd Award in England. In 1983, he took first prize at the Naumburg International Piano Competition in New York.Hough performs as a
recital ist andchamber music ian, and has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras around the world including the Chicago Symphony, theLos Angeles Philharmonic , the Toronto Symphony, thePhiladelphia Orchestra , the London Symphony, theNew York Philharmonic , the Boston Symphony, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, theBerlin Philharmonic , theEnglish Chamber Orchestra , the Malaysian Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony, theRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and theSingapore Symphony Orchestra .He has made over 40 CDs, one of his most notable of which is a set of the four
Rachmaninov Piano Concertos and theRhapsody on a Theme of Paganini , recorded during live performances with theDallas Symphony Orchestra under the baton of then music directorAndrew Litton , which have been compared to the recordings by the composer himself. These recordings won him his seventhGramophone Award as well as the Classical BRIT Critics Award.Hough holds a Master's degree from the
Juilliard School and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001. He has studied withHeather Slade-Lipkin ,Gordon Green , andDerrick Wyndham . He is also a notable composer and transcriber, and often includes his own works in his recitals. The premiere of hiscello concerto, written forSteven Isserlis took place in March 2007, and in the summer of the same yearWestminster Abbey andWestminster Cathedral performed Masses he wrote for them. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/01/21/svhough21.xml&site=6&page=0]He is visiting professor of piano at the
Royal Academy of Music inLondon and the International Chair of Piano Studies at theRoyal Northern College of Music inManchester . He was awarded aMacArthur Fellowship in 2002 joining prominent writers and scientists who have made significant contributions in their fields.He joined the
Roman Catholic Church when he was 19. He has written about hishomosexuality and its relationship with both his music-making and his religion. [http://www.stephenhough.com/site/writings/the_tablet.pdf] [ [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0826487858 Amazon.co.uk: The Way We Are Now: Gay and Lesbian Lives in the 21st Century: Books: Ben Summerskill ] ] He has also published "THE BIBLE AS PRAYER: a handbook forlectio divina ". [ [http://amazon.co.uk/s?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=hough+prayer Amazon.co.uk: hough prayer: Books ] ]elected discography
*Hummel: Piano Concerto in B minor, Op.89; Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.85: English Chamber Orchestra (Chandos 1987)
*Stephen Hough: Liszt (Virgin Classics, 1988)
*My Favorite Things: Virtuoso Encores (Musicmasters, 1988)
*Scharwenka: Piano Concerto No. 4 in F minor and Sauer: Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor (Hyperion, 1994 CDA66790)
*Piano Music by Federico Mompou (Hyperion, 1997)
*Brahms Piano Concertos 1 and 2, BBC Symphony Orchestra (Virgin Classics 1998)
*Stephen Hough's New Piano Album (Hyperion, 1999)
*Saint-Saëns, The Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (Hyperion, 2001)
*Hummel: Piano Sonatas (Hyperion, 2003)
*Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos No. 1, 2, 3 and 4; Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Litton/Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Hyperion CDA67501/2)
*The Stephen Hough Piano Collection (Hyperion, 2005)
*Liszt: Annees de pelerinage - Suisse (Hyperion, 2005)
*Stephen Hough's Spanish Album (Hyperion 2006)
*Man of Sorrows for piano & orchestra - George Tsontakis (Hyperion 2007)
*Mozart album (Hyperion 2007)References
External links
* [http://www.stephenhough.com/ Stephen Hough Official Website]
* [http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/artist_page.asp?name=hough Hyperion Website: includes audio samples]
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