top of page

Conversations at the Keyboard - Concert Pianist Tyler Hay

  • Muzaffar Shah
  • May 7
  • 4 min read

An exclusive interview with award-winning British concert pianist Tyler Hay, who will be performing at our grand piano showroom this May


For the first interview in our new series of conversations with leading piano personalities, we were delighted to sit down with concert pianist Tyler Hay.


Tyler first demonstrated his prodigious talent for the piano at just 11 years old when he won the Dennis Loveland Award in Kent for his performance of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1. He has an impressive academic journey from the completion of his bachelor’s degree at the Royal Northern College of Music to earning a master’s degree from the prestigious Royal College of Music.

Concert pianist Tyler Hay at the keyboard of a grand piano. Tyler Hay performs at our grand piano showroom this May.

Throughout his career, Tyler has performed at leading venues including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, and the Purcell Room. He has also delivered standout performances of Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand Alone at Queen Elizabeth Hall and Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 at Birmingham Symphony Hall, accompanied by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Tyler has also earned numerous awards at major competitions, including First Prize at the Dudley International Piano Competition in November 2022 and First Prize in keyboard at the Royal Overseas League piano competition in 2016.


  1. What’s a memorable concert you’ve presented, and why did it stand out?

    Playing Ravel’s Concerto for Left Hand Alone at the Queen Elizabeth Hall back in 2013. It was the culmination of everything I’d achieved as a student at the Purcell School and it was wonderful to perform such a great work to a packed hall in London. I’ll never forget having a pint of lager beforehand to calm my nerves as well! The teenage me must’ve been mad!


  2. What would you consider your greatest achievement as a pianist so far?

    I think winning the 2022 Dudley International Piano Competition. I’ve never been one to enter loads of competitions but it was nice to know that at my best, my playing stands next to the best. The standard was extremely high throughout and many of the competitors, including myself, had played in the Leeds competition the previous year.


  3. Who have been the biggest influences on your musical journey - teachers, pianists, or even non-musical figures?

    I’ve had too many influences to name really. My Granddad John was the first and probably the biggest. He was a fantastic jazz pianist and he gave me my earliest lessons. An unusual influence outside of music has been the 6 times world snooker champion, Steve Davis. His discipline and work ethic were absolutely remarkable when he was at his best.


  4. How many hours a day do you tend to practice, and how has that changed over the years?

    It depends entirely on the work I’ve got at the time. I can happily go a week without touching the instrument and I can happily practice 12 hours a day if needs be. I did a lot of work when I was a teenager. 6/7/8 hours a day on top of school and that’s when I developed my technique.


  5. What’s a piece that presented particular challenges, and how did you overcome those?

    A work called Variations and Fugue by the great British pianist, John Ogdon. It’s so difficult, it’s laughable. It borders on unplayable actually. I worked extremely hard and am proud of the recording I made of it on my debut album.


  6. Who is an underrated composer that you admire, and which work would you recommend as an example of their best writing?

    Where to start?! I could honestly write a book and as a matter of fact, I’ve been thinking about doing so. Without going on and on, I’ll give the first answer that springs to mind. Carl Czerny was a superb composer at his best and I recommend having a listen to his Piano Sonata no 2 in A minor, op 13. It’s classical music written in the early romantic period, so not a million miles away from the world of Felix Mendelssohn. It’s highly organised, wonderfully concise and packed with excellent music from beginning to end. Incidentally, this work ends with a marvellous fugue and having studied dozens of Czerny’s fugues, I’m convinced he was one of the most natural contrapuntal writers after JS Bach. (To give an answer away from piano music, try any one of William Alwyn’s 5 Symphonies. All are totally magnificent)!


  7. How do you calm your nerves before going on stage?

    I like to joke around, which helps bring me down to Earth a bit and reminds me that there are a lot worse things happening out there than a performance of mine going wrong. I was chatting with Peter Donohoe about this and I know he often likes to do the same.


  8. If you could collaborate with any musician - alive or from history - who would it be and what would you play?

    Too many to think about but I’d have been fascinated to have done Winterreise in front of Schubert with Johann Michael Vogl.


  9. What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about being a pianist?

    That it’s always a nice life. The travelling can be very isolating and the performing can be overwhelmingly pressurising. I don’t play the piano to relax; I play to stress in a controlled environment!


  10. What advice would you offer to aspiring young pianists at the beginning of their career?

    Be yourself and have confidence in that. Don’t take criticism too much to heart and allow your voice, knowledge and experience to develop and grow in your own time without jealously comparing yourself to others.


Tyler Hay will be performing at the Grand Passion Pianos showroom on 10 May 2025.


Showroom address: 32 Newman Street, London W1T 1PU


Connect with Tyler Hay:


Connect With Us:


This post is part of our "Conversations at the Keyboard" series, featuring interviews with distinguished pianists who appreciate the exceptional quality of our Steinway and Pleyel grand pianos.


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page