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The TL Professor of Composition releases first ever recording of complete piano works

Digitally released by Métier (Divine Art Recordings) this November, Becomings is a new album of Sam Hayden’s complete works for solo piano, performed by contemporary music specialist Ian Pace.

The centrepiece is the British composer’s monumental seven-movement cycle, Becomings (Das Werden) I-VII (2016-18), the most recent work on the album and the most ambitious and demanding in terms of scale and sheer virtuosity. This large-scale work was written as part of Sam’s role as Professor of Composition at Trinity Laban, and the production of the album was partly funded by Trinity Laban REF Seed Funding.

Also featured on the release are two shorter acoustic works …still time… (1990) and Fragment (After Losses) (2003), alongside Piano Moves (1990) for amplified piano, a piece which won the Cornelius Cardew Composition Prize 1990.

Sam’s works have been performed at major festivals including BBC Proms, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, ISCM Festival, Ultima Festival and Warsaw Autumn. An award-winning composer, his mv (1992, rev. 2002) received first prize at the Benjamin Britten International Competition 1995, and he has received commissions from various artists including BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cikada Ensemble, ELISION Ensemble, London Sinfonietta and Ensemble Musikfabrik. Throughout his career Sam has enjoyed multiple international residencies, including a Fulbright- Chester Schirmer Fellowship enabling him to work with Brian Ferneyhough at Stanford University. He was made a Professor at Trinity Laban in 2017.

A double CD of the album will be available on 12 February 2021. Find out more and download the album from Divine Arts.

Learn more about our Composition Department on our study pages.

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Image credit: Charles Linehan