A Visit With Stephen Hough Across The Atlantic

Pianist and Author Stephen Hough is described by The Washington Post as, “a virtuoso who begins where others leave off.” The Economist has named him as one of Twenty Living Polymaths.

He is a dedicated educator, a recording artist who has over 60 albums to his name (including the new, Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces, released earlier this year) and a composer. And, as I discovered during our recent telephone interview, Stephen Hough is a delightful, perfectly charming British gentleman!

He was scheduled to perform as part of Xavier University’s Piano Series later this month. He told me that he’s been performing at Xavier since the 1980’s and has many fond memories and friends there.

Even though this concert had to be postponed from the original April date to October 8, he agreed to chat about his career, the Brahms CD and his new book, Rough Ideas.


I began by asking him how he had developed his rehearsal regimen:


I learned a great many thing reading his new book, Rough Ideas, including the fact that every single piano ever built is unique:


He went on to describe how a pianist uses his or her entire body when playing:


I asked him to talk about the new CD, the pieces and why he chose them:


Finally, he talked about the importance, now more than ever, of living in the moment, staying positive and healthy:


Now that we’ve gotten to know him better, perhaps you’ll enjoy hearing Stephen Hough’s music on 90.9 WGUC even more.

You can also listen online at wguc.org, via the free WGUC app, or your Smart Speaker.

Bonus: Here is an article that Stephen wrote for UK's The Evening Standard about the true wonder of Christmas.