Sarah Williamson & Sam Haywood (ANDOVER CONCERT SERIES)
25th January 2024 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
£7 – £15
PART OF ANDOVER CONCERT SERIES
Sarah Williamson (clarinet) is renowned as a virtuoso clarinettist whose talent has been recognised by concert-goers and critics alike. BBC Music Magazine wrote: ‘A tenacious player like Williamson doesn’t need gimmicks – her sonorous timbre and natural musicality speak for themselves.’ The Independent hailed her as a ‘superb player’; and The Telegraph praised Sarah’s ‘blend of languor and exuberance.’
As a soloist, Sarah has performed at many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, The Wigmore Hall, The South Bank Centre, The Berlin Concerthaus, The Tonhalle Zurich, The Theatre des Champs-Elysèes Paris, The Suntory Hall and NHK Hall, Japan.
Sarah has performed and toured extensively with The Academy of St Martins in the Fields, The City of London Sinfonia, the BBC Concert orchestra, the LSO, BBC Concert Orchestra (broadcast live), The European Union Chamber Orchestra, The Brighton Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic (Classic FM live broadcast) and the Orchestra of the Swan.
Sarah achieved international fame following her success in the BBC Young Musician Competition 2002, first as Woodwind Division winner, then as Concerto Finalist when Sarah gave a highly individual performance of the piece with which she is most frequently associated, the Copland Clarinet Concerto, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Sarah went on to win second prize in the Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians in Berlin, again playing the Copland Concerto, this time with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marek Janowsky.
Sarah continued her studies at Le Conservatoire Superieur de Musique et de Dance de Paris, graduating with the Premier Prix and where she was awarded a ‘Laureate’, the Conservatoire’s highest honour in recognition of her reflecting her ability and musicality.
Sarah’s budding talent was previously recognised by the award of the Shell LSO Gerald McDonald Award and the Arthur Frederick Bulgin Medal by The Worshipful Company of Musicians. As a performer, Sarah was the winner of the Tillett Trust and Kirkman Concert Society Awards.
Sarah is recognised as a leading interpreter of the Copland Concerto, a recording of which on the Somm label was recently played on ‘Building a Library’ on BBC Radio 3. Sarah is also active in the field of contemporary music: she has championed the music of Edward Longstaff who has written a ‘Prelude’ and ‘Nocturne’ specially for Sarah, both of which were premiered on BBC Radio 3, in addition to a clarinet concerto. She has also worked with Philip Grange and recorded his clarinet concerto. Sarah commissioned a new piece by Joseph Phibbs, ‘Arc de Soleil,’ which was premiered at the Wigmore Hall, and is currently championing the works of Graham Fitkin and the Beniamin Baczewski Clarinet Concerto.
Sam Haywood (piano) has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus and the Wigmore Hall. The New York Times hailed his ‘‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. He has a special fondness for Indonesia, where he has performed and taught for many years.
He embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician or working with singers. He has toured extensively as a duo with American violinist Joshua Bell and also with cellist Steven Isserlis.
He has composed several instrumental miniatures, including ‘The Other Side’, first performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions.
For Hyperion Records, Haywood has recorded two albums of music by Charles Villiers Stanford and Julius Isserlis. Passionate about early instruments, he also recorded a Chopin album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano, part of the Cobbe Collection, to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010. For Sony Classical he has recorded a selection of works by the child prodigy Alma Deutscher and for Toccata Classics the violin and piano sonatas of Agnes Zimmermann with Mathilde Milwidsky. His recording of Mozart, Poulenc and Thuille with the Galliard Ensemble is soon to be released by Deux-Elles Records.
