Haydn Dickenson – Biography

I was born in 1961 in the UK. From the earliest age I was surrounded by music in the home and I soon developed an inquisitive love for the piano, which my father played well and in which he greatly encouraged me.

As a youngster I would improvise at the piano, later starting to sight-read substantial pieces. Tuition was sought for me but, initially, my greatest joy was when I was exploring alone at the piano.

My teachers up to the age of nineteen included Dorothy Schneider (a pupil of Tobias Matthay), Isabel Beyer, Harvey Dagul and Guy Jonson FRAM, whose illustrious students included Dmitris Sgouros, Martin Jones and Angela Lear.

In the early 1990’s I began to study with the legendary pianist, composer and teacher Peter Feuchtwanger, heralding a period of great discovery and revelation. I am deeply indebted to Prof. Feuchtwanger who, through his incredibly inspired pedagogy and wisdom, unlocked my latent potential and enriched my own teaching as well as nurturing me and allowing me to flourish as a professional pianist.

I was honoured to assist Prof Feuchtwanger in a number of his international masterclasses during the 1990’s, taking classes of students for coaching in the incredible ‘Feuchtwanger Exercises’, which I studied intensively with their creator.

My concert career took me to venues across Europe (especially France, Germany, Bulgaria and the Slovak Republic) and the UK. My repertoire comprised music from the Baroque Era through to the Romantic Period and beyond; I included in my programmes many lesser-known works by Chopin, Schumann, Beethoven and others, together with music by unjustly neglected composers.

Latterly specialising in works by living composers, I performed world premieres of works by Claus Gahrn, Hans G Leonhardt, Hugh Shrapnel, Robert Coleridge and others, many of which works were written especially for me. During the early 2000’s I became immersed in the music of Cornelius Cardew, having been headhunted to perform in commemorative concerts for this gigantic figure on several occasions in London.

In 2006 I recorded the complete piano compositions of Peter Feuchtwanger on the Music Chamber label, launching my CD “EAST” with an acclaimed recital at Leighton House, London. “EAST” has been described by Peter Grahame Woolf in Musical Pointers Magazine as “a rarely unique piano recording, displaying piano playing of great subtlety”.

In concert, my playing has been described by Donat Perbohner in Strictly Off The Record magazine as “a revelation of supreme pianistic virtuosity – once seen and heard, never forgotten”, and “an amazing virtuoso performance by a quite remarkable musician”, by critic Robert Hardcastle.

In 2008 I ceased performing in public due to family commitments, concentrating on my teaching practice in which I have sought to encourage and nurture the highest standards in my students.