Iyad Sughayer, piano

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.

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 will make 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 and in Washington DC. 

Previous season highlights included a return to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performances at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Barber Institute Birmingham, and a series of recitals at the Leicester International Music Festival performing the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas alongside newly commissioned pieces  inspired by those great works. 

Iyad has also performed in recital at the Bridgewater Hall & Stoller Hall in Manchester, Leeds Town Hall, Royal Concert Hall Nottingham International Piano series, Perth Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Festival Musique D’Abord in France and the Brighton, Bath and Lake District Summer Music Festivals in the UK among others. 

As a concerto soloist Iyad has appeared with leading orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Cairo and Amman Symphony Orchestras.   

Iyad also regularly collaborates with oboist Armand Djikoloum, with the pair due to undertake a tour of Scotland in Winter 2024. Previous appearances include concerts at the Lammermuir, Lichfield and Thaxted Festivals respectively. 

In 2022 Iyad co-founded and launched a new specialist music school, the Mashrek Academy of Music, with the Mashrek International School in Amman. The Academy welcomes students from across Jordan, discovering and nurturing a new generation of creators and musicians.

In 2020 he contributed to a BBC Arabic documentary ‘London Lockdown’, in which he took part as a character and recorded the soundtrack for the music. 

Born in Amman, the Jordanian-Palestinian pianist, Iyad 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).