Sir Stephen Hough appointed artist in association with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra
British pianist Sir Stephen Hough has been appointed artist in association with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in the coming season, performing twice with the orchestra in Harpa and giving a recital in the orchestra’s Friday Seriesbefore joining the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on tour of the UK in the spring of 2023. Also in the position of artist in association is composer and conductor Daníel Bjarnason.
Sir Stephen Hough, knighted in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours earlier this year for his outstanding contributions to music, is among the world’s leading concert pianists. A regular guest with many of the world’s most distinguished orchestras, he has performed in the world’s most prestigious concert halls and his discography of over 60 albums has garnered many international awards. Apart from his career as a concert pianist, Sir Stephen Hough is a distinguished composer and writer as well as a painter. A uniquely versatile artist, Sir Hough was the first classical musician to receive the MacArthur Prize in 2001 and was named by the Economist as one of the 20 greatest polymaths alive today.
Sir Stephen Hough will play Beethoven’s third piano concerto with the ISO on 12 January 2023 under the baton of chief conductor Eva Ollikainen. The following day, he will perform in the Friday series, combining his interpretations of Debussy, Liszt and his own partita with a reading from his forthcoming book and a conversation, offering the audience a glimpse of the man behind the music. Sir Stephen Hough’s second concert with the ISO in the season will be on 23 February, when he plays Rachmaninoff’s second concerto, again with Eva Ollikainen. Both concertos will feature on the ISO’s UK tour in April, with performances in halls including Cadogan Hall in London, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall and Usher Hall in Edinburgh.