Clara Biss and Sam Hayward
Sunday 25 April 2027, 11am
Venue tbc
Violinist Clara Biss and pianist Sam Haywood bring two great sonatas to this Sunday morning Coffee Concert. Beethoven’s Spring Sonata offers brightness and warmth while Brahms’ D‑minor Sonata brings a more expansive, powerful voice. Together they create a thoughtful and engaging programme, ideal for a relaxed and welcoming start to the day.
Approx. 50mins (no interval)
Standard ticket £15 | Students & Under 18s £5
Includes tea and coffee after the concert
Violinist Clara Biss is as happy playing chamber music on London’s most prestigious stages as she is touring the world with a symphony or chamber orchestra. This is reflected her extremely varied career, which has ranged from giving workshops in the foothills of the Himalayas to performing Arvo Part’s hypnotic St. John’s Passion in the middle of the night in the Albert Hall.
As a member of Endymion Ensemble, and the former violinist of the Lawson Piano Trio, she finds herself performing regularly at the Wigmore Hall, King’s Place, The Southbank and on BBC Radio 3, exploring a huge range of repertoire. She has collaborated with, amongst many others, The Edinburgh, Dante and Engegard Quartets. Clara has participated in Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove, as well as performing at festivals such as Cheltenham and Winchester.
Clara is also a member of the Britten Sinfonia, with whom she has toured Mexico, South America, Amsterdam and New York. She works with many of the UK’s other chamber orchestras, frequently as a guest principal.
Alongside her playing, Clara is a sought after teacher and music educator. She teaches at Benenden School, where she also coordinates the Chamber Music Department, and has lead courses and workshops including Britten Sinfonia Academy and Pro Corda.
Clara has a 3 year old boy, and juggles music with far more important pursuits; she is an expert on Thomas the Tank Engine and all his Friends, is steadily improving her football skills and can be found running for miles around the Kent countryside chasing a small boy on a bike.
British-Australian pianist Sam Haywood has appeared in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus. The New York Times praised his “passionate flair and sparkling clarity,” and The Washington Post his “dazzling, evocative playing.”
A versatile recitalist and concerto soloist, Sam has worked with chamber and symphony orchestras across Europe and beyond. Highlights include appearances with the Athens Symphony Orchestra, the Odessa Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony Orchestra and the Solent Music Festival Orchestra. Last year he toured China in a duo with Joshua Bell and has performed frequently with cellist Steven Isserlis and clarinettist Katherine Spencer.
Sam’s discography includes recordings for Hyperion, Sony, Deux-Elles and Toccata Classics. His project Chopin’s Own Piano was recorded on the composer’s 1848 Pleyel from the Cobbe Collection. He also composes chamber miniatures; The Other Side was premiered at the Vienna Konzerthaus and his Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano is published by Emerson Editions.
Private audiences have included the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the then Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, Hillary Clinton, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Sir David Attenborough.
He is Artistic Director and co-founder of the Solent Music Festival in Lymington, which presents artists such as Steven Isserlis, The Sixteen and The King’s Singers and administers the annual Lawson-May Award for Composition. Sam has guest-curated series including the Leeds International Chamber Music Series, serves on the faculty at Finchcocks, and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.