Thursday 9 August 2007
Thomas Heywood
Thomas
Heywood enjoys an outstanding reputation as one of the world's
finest concert organists. As the first and only Australian musician in
history to live as a professional concert organist, 33 year-old Heywood
is celebrated as an acknowledged master for his spoken introductions and
truly unique ability to make the greatest music of all time come alive
on the King of Instruments. Touring annually around the world, Heywood
has an amazingly comprehensive repertoire of over 5,000 works. A talented
and prolific transcriber, Heywood's solo concert organ arrangements of
the most famous classical and romantic music are published for world-wide
distribution. Heywood is also performing and recording his arrangements
of the complete Beethoven symphonies for concert organ solo, becoming
the first solo artist in history to successfully perform these musical
landmarks. After last year's unprecedented successes, the latest international
solo tour of "The Wizard from Oz" was a complete triumph with
record crowds and standing ovations from London to Dallas dazzling audiences
and critics alike. In 2007 his demanding schedule again incorporates nearly
six months touring in concert halls, town halls, cathedrals and churches
throughout North America, the UK and Europe.
Born into a Melbourne musical family in 1974, Heywood was acknowledged to be a child prodigy giving his first public performance at five after commencing musical studies at the age of four. He has since performed on thousands of occasions ranging from a solo concert in the Sydney Opera House at the age of 17 to touring throughout the UK, USA and Europe in venues reading like an encyclopaedia of the world's most famous organs from the largest pipe organ in New York City to Windsor Castle. Since 1994, Heywood has also performed more concerts in Australia than any other organist, maintaining a demanding schedule around the country performing to thousands each year. Heywood also regularly inaugurates new and restored organs, and in 2001 performed the opening solo concert on the largest musical instrument in the southern hemisphere, the Grand Concert Organ in the Melbourne Town Hall.
Since 1992, when he released Australia's best-selling organ recording at only 18 years of age, Heywood's many recordings have all been popular sell-out successes receiving extraordinary critical acclaim. His performances have been broadcast internationally on television and radio.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), trans. Thomas Heywood (b.1974)
Overture, from Music to Goethe's Egmont, op. 84Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770-1846), ed. William Thomas Best (1826-1897)
Flute concerto, op. 55 no. 182
i. Allegro maestosoJohann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Fantasia & fugue in G minor, BWV 542Thomas Heywood
Humoresque for a pedal trombone, op. 28Enrique Granados (1867-1916), trans. Thomas Heywood
Danza Española Andaluza, op. 37 no. 5Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), trans. Thomas Heywood
Suite from Swan Lake, op. 20
i. Goblet dance (act I no. 8)
ii. Scène (act II nos. 10 & 14)
iii. Dance of the swans (act II no. 13/IV)
iv. Waltz (act I no. 2)