Sir Stephen Hough to tour UK with Iceland Symphony Orchestra and new Yamaha CFX

A fresh chapter in the story of Yamaha pianos will be written this month (April) when the new Yamaha CFX concert grand piano, the manufacturer's flagship instrument, embarks on its maiden tour of the UK in the company of renowned concert pianist Sir Stephen Hough and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of its new chief conductor, Eva Ollikainen.

The new CFX is the product of exhaustive development by Yamaha, a company with more than 100 years' experience creating some of the world's finest musical instruments. Shaped by artists and built by craftsmen, the new instrument, a full-size, nine-foot concert grand piano, blends the wisdom of the old world with the innovations of the new.

At its heart is Yamaha's Unibody Concept – a precise alignment of the structural elements comprising the piano's case, frame and soundboard, ensuring that the sound the pianist hears is the one they intended and, by extension, the sound the audience also hears. In combination with additional refinements and the very finest materials, supported by an extensive research and development programme drawing on feedback from some of the world's finest pianists, the Yamaha CFX represents a new benchmark in piano performance.

This heightened level of expression will be placed at the service of Sir Stephen in performances of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.3 during the Iceland Symphony Orchestra's seven-date UK tour which begins in London's Cadogan Hall on 20 April and, following concerts in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham and Cardiff, concludes in Basingstoke on 28 April.

For both audience and pianist the tour promises to be a memorable experience as Sir Stephen, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra's Artist-in-Association throughout the 2022-23 season, explains: "On a tour there can be a real sense of family; a group of musicians moves from one place to the next bringing great music from city to city. Along with my wonderful Icelandic colleagues I have my own special partner travelling with me: a gorgeous Yamaha CFX. This is a comfort and inspiration, and a special joy."

The pianist personally selected the new CFX for his tour, an instrument he has previously described as 'fitting my hand and musical personality like a glove. There's a magic there and you can't always analyse exactly what it is. It leads you to do more than you ever thought you could do.'

This opportunity to perform on the same instrument in successive concerts, one that is so rarely offered to pianists even of the calibre of Sir Stephen, promises to lead the artist along still richer and more rewarding musical paths as, with each performance on his UK tour with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, he explores and reveals to audiences the new Yamaha CFX's expressive potential in two of the instrument's greatest concertos.

It's a journey of discovery and enlightenment that Eva Ollikainen, who will also conduct the orchestra in performances of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5 and celebrated Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir's METACOSMOS, is clearly relishing: “Stephen is such an incredible musician and human being. I look forward to our collaboration and working with him on tour.”