St Mary’s Church, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5EB. Doors open at 4.30pm. Refreshments.
Tickets: tba
Programme
Beethoven Piano Sonatas
Misha Kaploukhii …
No. 2, Op. 2 in A major
William Bracken …
No. 29, Op. 106, ‘Hammerklavier’
Iyad Sughayer …
No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastoral’
Giulia Contaldo …
No. 32, Op. 111 in C minor
Misha Kaploukhii is a graduate of the Moscow Gnessin College of Music, where he studied under Mikhail Egiazaryan. He has completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music and is now pursuing a Master of Performance under the guidance of Professor Ian Jones.
Misha’s studies are supported by many awards. He is honoured to be one of the recipients of the LSO Conservatoire Scholarships 2024/26 and is a Musicians’ Company Lambert Scholar, supported by the Maureen and Harold Adams Scholarship. Misha has also been awarded Hattori Foundation Senior Award 2025/26, an ABRSM Scholarship and grants from the Drake Calleja Trust and Eileen Rowe Musical Trust. His career is supported with the help of Keyboard Charitable Trust, the Razumovsky Trust, the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation and Talent Unlimited. Besides appearances in Italy and France, his performances with orchestras in the UK include debuts in Cadogan Hall playing Rachmaninov’s 1st Concerto with YMSO and James Blair, Liszt’s 2nd Concerto with RCM Symphony orchestra with Adrian Partington and, recently, Rachmaninov’s 4th Concerto performed with the Albion Orchestra.
William Bracken's creative voice stems from a deep fluency with the language of music itself, dissolving musical boundaries through improvisational state of mind, curiosity and acute contextual awareness. A visionary musician with a vast repertoire of classical masterworks, contemporary works and equally at home in jazz and improvised music, the Wirral-born pianist has won numerous awards including First Prize at the 2022 Liszt Society International Piano Competition, First Prize, Press Prize and Audience Prize at the 2023 Euregio Piano Award international piano competition, Second Prize at the 2023 Livorno international piano competition, Third Prize at the 2024 UniSA international piano competition. He currently holds a position as a member of teaching staff in the Centre for Creative Performance and Classical Improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Concert highlights include concerto performances at The Barbican, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, St John’s Smith Square and recitals at Carnegie's Weill Hall in New York, Chipping Campden Festival, LSO St Luke’s and Wigmore Hall, where he was praised by the Telegraph for his “courage and stamina and musicality in abundance” and “an ability to hold an audience in the palm of his hand”. He is also active as a core member of the improvisation group Ensemble+ and bandleader of the Will Bracken Trio.
William has collaborated with conductors such as Nicholas Collon (Aurora Orchestra) and Domingo Hindoyan (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic) and his chamber partners have included Michael Barenboim, Angela Hewitt and Jonathan Aasgard. During his studies in London William was made a scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust which involved participating in a week of intensive study in the south of France with renowned pianist Dame Imogen Cooper. He also won a full scholarship to attend the Aspen Music Festival and Summer School in Colorado U.S.A in 2022, studying with Hung-Kuan Chen and Fabio Bidini.
Born in Amman, Jordanian-Palestinian Iyad Sughayer studied at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal Northern College of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he won the College’s prestigious Gold Medal. He completed his International Artist Diploma at the RNCM in 2019 and in the same year became a City Music Foundation Artist. In 2021 he was made an Associate of the Royal Northern College of Music (ARNCM).
Chosen as ‘One to Watch’ by International Piano Magazine, Iyad’s debut album Khachaturian Piano Works for BIS Records was described by Gramophone as “...exhilarating and delivered with perfect clarity...” and “...an outstanding debut...” by BBC Music Magazine. Iyad’s second recording for BIS with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Andrew Litton was released to critical acclaim in autumn 2022. In October 2025, Iyad recorded a third disc, completing all the piano music of Khachaturian on BIS.
Nominated as a 2022 ‘Rising Star’ by Classic FM, Iyad was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust international auditions in 2021. During the 2024/25 season Iyad made his debut in Bogota in Colombia, as well as undertaking his first professional tour of North America, including debut recitals in Toronto, Middlebury College Vermont, University of South Florida, Northeastern College in California where he was chosen as the Dewing Artist at Mills College. Previous highlights include Iyad’s return to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performances at major venues such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and the Bridgewater Hall, as well as appearances at leading UK festivals including Brighton, Bath and Lake District Summer Music. He has also featured in prominent recital series at the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Perth Concert Hall and Leeds Town Hall.
As a concerto soloist Iyad has appeared with leading orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, London Mozart Players, European Union Chamber Orchestra and Cairo and Amman Symphony Orchestras.
“... a dashing account of Schumann’s Piano Concerto, with Giulia Contaldo as the last-minute replacement soloist." The Guardian
Italian - American pianist Giulia Contaldo came to international attention when she stepped in for Elisso Virsaladze to play Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Omer Meir Wellber at the Bridgewater Hall (Manchester) live broadcasted by BBC Radio3.
Giulia has received numerous prizes, including first prizes at the 28th JS Bach Italian National Competition, the 15th International Maria Giubilei Competition, prizes at the International Competition Prémio Internacional de Piano Figueira da Foz, 32nd Concours Européen de Musique de Chambre (Paris), Massarosa International Competition, Third Prize and Audience Prize at the James Mottram International Competition, Second prize and Classical Sonata Award at the Verona International Competition. She was also awarded the prestigious Gold Medal at the RNCM.
As a soloist, Giulia has performed with leading orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Nottingham Philharmonic, Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell' Arena di Verona, Young Musicians European Orchestra and more. She has performed throughout Europe, Switzerland, UK and USA for many festivals including Teatro Alighieri (Ravenna), Teatro Filarmonico (Verona), Amici della Musica di Padova, Teatro Verdi, Teatro della Pergola (Firenze), Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto), Sale Apollinee (Teatro la Fenice), Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), Wigmore Hall, Steinway Hall (London), Musica Insieme (Bologna) etc. Furthermore, Giulia has had broadcasts of her performances on Rai Radio3, BBC Radio and Classic FM.
Giulia completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees with highest honors and a special mention at the Cherubini Conservatory Florence, whilst also studying at Imola International Academy with Jin Ju, where she completed her artist diploma. Giulia continued her studies for the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Performance at the RNCM with Graham Scott and Dina Parakhina, graduating with distinction; She was then accepted into the highly selective International Artist Diploma. Giulia also studied with Ricardo Castro at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve.
Giulia is piano professor at the Conservatorio Jacopo Tomadini in Udine, Italy. She is supported by the Keyboard Charitable Trust and is a scholar of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust.
This concert is dedicated to the memory of David Lipsey
and made possible by the generous support of
Philip Hughes
David and Margaret Lipsey
Judith Serota
