Edinburgh Royal Mile International Piano Series - The Beethoven Sonatas

Following its acclaimed debut in 2024, the prestigious Edinburgh International Royal Mile Piano Series returns with a complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, performed across the 2025–26 season. Showcasing exceptional talent from leading UK and international pianists, each recital offers a unique perspective on some of the most profound and beloved works in the piano repertoire.

Set against the magnificent backdrop of St Giles’ Cathedral — illuminated by candlelight and enhanced by a newly installed Steinway grand piano — these concerts promise an unforgettable musical experience at the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile.

Featuring

Sam Haywood (piano)

Programme

Schubert: Impromptu D899 No 4 in A flat

Beethoven: Sonata No 8 in C minor Op 13 ‘Pathetique’

Chopin- Ballade No 4 in F minor Op 52

Chopin- Berceuse Op 57

Chopin- Polonaise in A flat Op 53 ‘Heroic’

About Sam Haywood

Sam Haywood has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Tonhalle in Zürich. Private audiences have included Princess Diana, David Attenborough and the then Vice-Presidents Biden and Xi. The New York Times hailed his ‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. Sam embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as soloist and chamber musician. His highly acclaimed duo with violinist Joshua Bell toured all over the world for over a decade and he has also performed on many occasions with cellist Steven Isserlis.

He has released two solo albums of music for Hyperion Records, and other recordings for Sony, Deux- Elles and Toccata Classics. Passionate about early instruments, he made a Chopin disc on the composer’s own Pleyel piano to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010.He has composed several instrumental miniatures, including ‘The Other Side’, first performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano is published by Emerson Editions.Sam is also the Artistic Director and co-founder (with his wife Sophia) of the Solent Music Festival, set in the beautiful sailing town of Lymington. Guest artists over the past twelve years have included Steven Isserlis, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Michael Portillo (his ‘Piano Desert Island Discs’), The King’s Singers and Tenebrae. The festival now has its own orchestra, comprising mainly members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the City of London Sinfonia.

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