Tom Hicks
Biography[edit]
Tom Hicks (born 1993 in Guernsey) is a pianist, teacher and artistic director of the Fanny Davies International Piano Series. He studied with Murray McLachlan at Chetham’s School of Music for two years and continued with him on the Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University joint course from 2011-2015. He then studied with Boris Berman at Yale University between 2015-2017, and with James Giles at Northwestern University between 2017-2020. He has been described by Julian Jacobson as ‘confident and artistic’[1] and by Yvonne Evans as ‘one of the best! Magnificent pianism and an engaging personality’.
Awards[edit]
Tom Hicks has won several piano competitions and is the recipient of numerous awards. He won 1st Prize at the Wales (Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias) International Piano Competition in 2012, the European Piano Teachers’ Assocation UK Piano Competition in 2014, the Connecticut Young Artist Piano Competition in 2016[2] and the Evanston & North Shore Music Clubs Competition in 2019.[3] He was also selected as a finalist in the 2015 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition[4] and the New York International Piano Competition.[5] [6]
Tom Hicks received the Denis Midwood Prize for Piano and the Richards’ Prize for Piano and Musicianship from Chetham’s School of Music (2011), the Keith Elcombe Prize for Best Overall Performance (2014), the Faculty of Humanities Outstanding Academic Achievement Award (2014) and three Proctor Gregg Performance Prizes from the University of Manchester (2011-2014) and the Peter Frankl Prize for Piano from the Royal Northern College of Music (2015). He is also a recipient of the Royal Northern College of Music Gold Medal and winner of the Concerto Competition (2015).[7]
Performing[edit]
Tom Hicks has an expansive repertoire and has appeared as recitalist in venues such as The Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, The Pump Rooms in Bath, The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and in many other venues throughout Europe and the United States. His performances of Brahms, Rachmaninoff and John Ireland have been particularly well received.[8] [9] [10] As a concerto soloist he has performed the complete works of Rachmaninoff and Brahms alongside those of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Saint-Saens and Gershwin.
Alongside his solo career, he performs as an accompanist and chamber musician and has performed the Dvorak and Schumann Piano Quintets with the Coull Quartet.
In 2012, Tom Hicks co-founded Guernsey-based modern music ensemble Terra Nova. He has collaborated with British composer Camden Reeves, including premières of Reeves’ Tangle-Beat Blues in 2014, Nine Preludes in 2016 and Blue Sounds in 2019, and a CD of Camden Reeves’ music for the Métier label in 2021.[11] [12] In December 2019, Tom performed a new work for solo piano by American composer Augusta Read Thomas and their collaboration continues into 2020.
Recordings[edit]
Tom Hicks recorded John Ireland’s Sarnia and The Island Spell alongside Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons in 2019. The CD has been well received by critics. Gerald Fenech writes on Classical Music Daily that 'sometimes projects such as these do work beautifully well. This CD is a case in point… With climate change on everybody's lips, this issue is a gorgeous tribute to the overwhelming beauty of nature… Tom Hicks performs these mini gems with grace and élan, and his loving attention to detail brings out all the hidden nuances of these ethereal pieces full of colour and imagery.'[13] Alexander Thompson writes in Piano Journal magazine that 'Sarnia is an extensive triptych that shows Hicks to be a hedonistic lover of sonority. Beautiful resonances and a celebration of spacious fantasy are hallmarks of his playing at its best. In The Island Spell, Hicks creates a miniature universe of colouristic wonder… Tenderly realised pianism showing a keen ear for detail at all times.'[14]
The recording label Métier has released details of Tom Hicks’ next CD project ‘Blue Sounds for Piano’ featuring the music of Camden Reeves.[15]
External Links[edit]
https://www.facebook.com/TomHicksPianist/
https://www.instagram.com/tomhickspianist/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_leJHYlllU1Q-TB3v_vKjQ/
https://www.facebook.com/fdpiano/
https://www.instagram.com/fannydavies_pianoseries
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.mvdaily.com/2011/04/competition.htm
- ↑ https://patch.com/connecticut/simsbury/calendar/event/1491159600/61537/avon-public-library-presents-pianist-tom-hicks-winner-of-2016-connecticut-young-artist-piano-competi?utm_source=amp&utm_campaign=amp&utm_medium=mobile
- ↑ https://www.evanstonmusicclub.org/page2.htm
- ↑ https://www.rncm.ac.uk/news/pianist-tom-hicks-reaches-finals-ferruccio-busoni-competition
- ↑ https://www.concorsobusoni.it/en/candidates-busoni-piano-competition?id=412
- ↑ https://www.rncm.ac.uk/news/winning-streak-rncm-pianists
- ↑ https://www.rncm.ac.uk/news/rncms-2015-gold-medal-winners
- ↑ https://stjames.gg/guernseys-finest-take-on-the-big-beasts
- ↑ https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.wordpress.com/2019/07/01/tom-hicks-at-st-martins-in-the-fields
- ↑ https://johnirelandtrust.org/links
- ↑ https://whatsnew.composersedition.com/tom-hicks-premieres-camden-reeves-blue-sounds
- ↑ https://www.music.northwestern.edu/events/tom-hicks-piano-0
- ↑ https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2020/02/hicks.htm
- ↑ https://epta-uk.org/sites/default/files/pianojournalpdf/Piano%20Journal%20118%20magazine.pdf
- ↑ https://divineartrecords.com/metier-to-release-tom-hicks-blue-sounds-album-of-music-by-camden-reeves
This article "Tom Hicks" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Tom Hicks. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
