With the heart of a poet and the hands of a magician, British pianist, composer, and writer Sir Stephen Hough is a virtuoso. Playing Romantic and Impressionistic masterworks alongside knuckle busting showpieces, he creates a truly singular concert experience. His first visit to Hodgson Concert Hall on April 2 at 3 p.m. includes works by Liszt and Debussy and his own “Partita.”
Since taking first prize at the 1983 Naumburg Competition in New York, Hough has appeared with most of the major European, Asian and American orchestras and plays recitals regularly in major halls and concert series around the world, from London’s Royal Festival Hall to New York’s Carnegie Hall.
His Athens program begins with music by Catalan composer Federico Mompou, the subject of his most recent album. He then moves through pieces by Claude Debussy and Aleksandr Skryabin. The second half includes Hough’s “Partita” and music by Franz Liszt.
This UGA Presents performance is supported by John A. Maltese. There will be a pre-performance talk in Ramsey Concert Hall by Richard Zimdars, Despy Karlas Professor Emeritus of Piano, at 2:15 p.m. with free admission.
In 2001, Hough became the first classical performing artist to win a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. In 2014, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honors in 2022.
He regularly contributes articles for The Guardian, The Times, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine. His first novel, “The Final Retreat,” was released in 2018 by Sylph Editions, and was followed by “Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More,” an anthology of essays on musical, cultural, lifestyle and spiritual subjects, published in 2019. His memoir, “Enough: Scenes of Childhood,” is being released this spring by Faber. As a composer, he has written for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble and solo piano.
Hough records extensively for Hyperion Records. Many of his more than 60 albums have garnered international prizes including the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or, Monde de la Musique, several Grammy nominations and eight Gramophone Magazine Awards, including the 1996 and 2003 “Record of the Year” Awards and the 2008 “Gold Disc” Award, which named his complete Saint-Saëns piano concertos the best recording of the past 30 years.
Hough resides in London, where he is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School. To learn more about Hough, visit his website StephenHough.com and follow him on Twitter at @HoughHough.
Three ways to get tickets
- Purchase tickets online at pac.uga.edu.
- Call the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (five-minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)
Ticket buyers can create a series of three performances for 20% off. Single tickets begin at $25, and UGA student tickets are just $10. Parking is free.
To learn more about all UGA Performing Arts Center events, visit pac.uga.edu.
