William Howard

(Please note recital starts at 7:30 pm)\nProgramme\n \nJanacek - In the Mists (V mlhach)\nSchumann - Humoreske in B flat, Op.20\n4 Czech Love Songs:\n - Suk - Pisen lasky (Love Song), Op.7 No.1\n - Fibich - Poeme from Moods, Impressions and Souvenirs, Op.41, Bk.4, No.14\n - Janacek - Listek odvanuty (A blown away leaf) from On an Overgrown Path\n - Pavel Novak - Sonata No.7 (Little Song of Love and Mercy)\nChopin - Scherzo No.2 in B flat minor, Op.31 & Ballade No.4 in F minor, Op.52\nWILLIAM HOWARD is established as one of Britain's leading pianists, enjoying a career that has taken him to over 40 different countries. His performing life consists of solo recitals, concerto performances, guest appearances with chamber ensembles and instrumentalists. In 1983 he founded the Schubert Ensemble, with which he has performed for the full 35 years of the Ensemble's existence (it will retire in June 2018). Winner of the 1998 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Best Chamber Ensemble, the Schubert Ensemble has earned a worldwide reputation as one of the finest piano and string ensembles, as well as setting up several ground-breaking educational projects and commissioning 50 concert works. \nWilliam Howard's solo career has taken him to many of Britain's most important festivals, including Bath, Brighton and Cheltenham, and he has been artist in residence at several others. He has performed many times at Wigmore Hall, the South Bank and at Kings Place in London and has broadcast regularly for BBC Radio 3. For many years he has been invited to perform and teach at the Dartington International Summer School. \nAs soloist and chamber musician he can be heard on over 40 CDs, released by Chandos, Hyperion, ASV, NMC, Collins Classics, Black Box, Champs Hill, Nimbus and Orchid Classics. His recording of Dvořák Piano Works was selected in the Gramophone Critics' Choice, and his recording of Fibich's Moods, Impressions and Souvenirs won a Diapason D'Or award in France. His 2011 recording of Pavel Zemek Novák's extraordinary 75-minute cycle of 24 Preludes and Fugues, described by David Matthews as one of the finest piano works of our time received a double five-star review in the BBC Music Magazine. His most recent album Sixteen Love Songs, released in June 2016 on Orchid Classics, was selected as 'Drive Discovery of the Week' on Classic FM. \nHe is passionate about 19th century piano repertoire, especially Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Fauré. He also has a strong interest in Czech piano music and has been particularly acclaimed for his performance of Janáček, for which he received a medal from the Czech Minister of Culture in 1986. He has commissioned new works throughout his professional career and has been involved in premieres of over 100 new works. Many leading composers have written several works for him over decades, including Piers Hellawell, David Matthews, Pavel Zemek Novák, Anthony Powers, Howard Skempton and Judith Weir. In 2016 he launched a project to commission love songs for solo piano from leading composers in the UK and abroad. He also set up an international composing competition for writing piano love songs that attracted over 500 entries from 61 countries. His next album Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs will be released on Orchid Classics in June 2018. \nwww.williamhoward.co.uk\nwww.inlovewiththepiano.com