Concerto Soloist
Testimonials, Reviews, Repertoire & Media
"I first encountered pianist Tom Hicks as the soloist in the first Brahms concerto with the RNCM symphony orchestra in 2014. In rehearsals, he had so impressed their conductor, Mark Heron, that the latter contacted me to suggest the performance was likely to be something worth seeing. He was right! I too was impressed by a young pianist, not merely on top of the technical challenges of that work, but able to bring to it a musicality and deftness of touch which belied his years. I subsequently engaged him for Stockport Symphony Orchestra and over three seasons, concluding in 2018, Tom played all four Rachmaninov concertos and the Paganini Variations with us in five stunning concerts which were hugely appreciated by our audiences. Tom produces performances of the highest calibre played with warmth and sensitivity and with the technique and temperament to bring off the bravura passages with aplomb but without distracting histrionics. In addition to his obvious technical and musical gifts, Tom is also an engaging personality and, for a concert organiser, has been a delight to deal with.”
David Lund (Program Manager, Stockport Symphony Orchestra)
"Tom Hicks is an excellent pianist. The depth and maturity in the interpretation of Brahms' First Piano Concerto was exceptional. I can highly recommend Tom."
Michelle Castelletti (Artistic Director, Royal Northern College of Music)
“Tom launched his narrative in Brahms' Second Piano Concerto with an authority and passion that was almost startling, given his youthful formality. The horn lured the piano out into the rough seas, which the piano rode with brio and assurance, vaulting easily over the dense underpinnings of the orchestra. His calm composure and lack of musical score made it seem entirely natural that a young man of just 26 should spearhead such a formidable musical force. … The next three movements felt like a coming of age. Tom no longer as local boy wonder but fully mature concert professional: sometimes managing jaw-dropping acrobatics with throwaway poise, other times providing the depth and lustre that gilded the whole creation, the emotional focal point that made you want to say ‘Oh that’s what it’s all about’.”
Julia Meredith, ‘Guernsey’s Finest Take on the Big Beasts’, The Guernsey Press, 2019.

Above: Tom in rehearsal with the Amati Orchestra and conductor Leo Patsalides, St John's Smith Square, London
Repertoire & Selected Performances
- Mozart Concerto in E-flat major for Two Pianos, No. 10, K365
Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, Ewa Strusinska & Sebastian Grand, 2011
- Mozart Concerto in F major, No. 19, K459
Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, Jean Owen, 2021
- Beethoven Concerto in C minor, No. 3, Opus 37
Aldwych Sinfonia, February 2015
Guernsey Sinfonia, James Keirle, April 2015
Burnley Orchestra, Frank Lennon, June 2015
- Schumann Concerto in A minor, Opus 54
Torbay Symphony Orchestra, Richard Gonski, March 2015
Torbay Symphony Orchestra, Richard Gonski, March 2015
Guernsey Sinfonia, James Keirle, April 2015
- Brahms Concerto in D minor, No. 1, Opus 15
University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra, Mark Heron, March 2014
Royal Northern College of Music Concert Orchestra, Mark Heron, 2014
Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, Dominic Wheeler, November 2015
Crowthorne Symphony Orchestra, Robert Roscoe, November 2015
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, June 2022
- Brahms Concerto in B-flat major, No. 2, Opus 83
St John's Festival Orchestra, Adam Davies, June 2019
Crowthorne Symphony Orchestra, Adam Davies, June 2019
St James Sinfonia, Roger Coull, August 2019
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, TBC
- Saint-Saens Le carnival des animaux
Guernsey Camerata, Mervyn Grand, February 2012
- Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue
Beenham Wind Orchestra, Robert Roscoe, March 2013
- Rachmaninoff Concerto in F-sharp minor, No. 1, Opus 1
Guernsey Sinfonietta, Sebastian Grand, July 2011
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Harish Shankar, June 2016
- Rachmaninoff Concerto in C minor, No. 2, Opus 18
St James Sinfonia, Roger Coull, August 2013
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Mark Heron, October 2016
Amati Orchestra, Leo Patsalides, July 2017
Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Sebastian Grand, 2019
Weston Jennings, Organ, September 2022
- Rachmaninoff Concerto in D minor, No. 3, Opus 30
Guernsey Sinfonietta, Sebastian Grand, August 2015
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Sergej Bolkhovets, 2017
Weston Jennings, Organ, October 2018
- Rachmaninoff Concerto in G minor, No. 4, Opus 40
Guernsey Sinfonietta, Sebastian Grand, July 2012
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Mark Heron, October 2017
- Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43
Guernsey Sinfonietta, Sebastian Grand, August 2014
Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Ewa Strusinska, June 2018
- Bartok Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra
Terra Nova, Guernsey,July 2012
Rachmaninoff Concertos
Tom has performed Rachmaninoff's complete works for piano and orchestra on two occasions. The first cycle was with the Guernsey Sinfonietta and Sebastian Grand (conductor) from 2011-2015. The second cycle was with Stockport Symphony Orchestra with Harish Shankar, Mark Heron, Sergej Bolkhovets and Ewa Strusinska (conductors) from 2016-2018.
Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 4, Stockport Symphony Orchestra, Mark Heron.Live Performance, 7 October 2017.
Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3, Stockport Symphony Orchestra, SergejBolkhovets.Live Performance, 17 June 2017.
Recitalist
Testimonials, Reviews, Performances & Media
"The Kensington & Chelsea Music Society (KCMS) was delighted to include in our last season a piano recital by Tom Hicks from Guernsey with a programme of the finest pieces. So exquisite was Tom's playing and so enthusiastic the response of our audience that we have invited him to return in our current season for a follow-up performance that will again show his profound talent as virtuoso player and interpreter"
Peter Thomas (Chairman, KCMS)
“That slightly dazed silence before the applause began in Beethoven's Sonata Opus 109 was witness to how far we had been transported. For someone in their twenties, the ability to interpret so intelligently the creation of a man tormented by his deafness and hence mortality, is rather magnificent.”
Julia Meredith, ‘Tom Hicks and Friends’, The Guernsey Press, 2020.
“Tom immediately showed his musical credentials in “Island Spell” with the washes of sound and a magical sense of colour from hands that seemed only to hover above the keys…A transcendental technique allowed him to throw off the many technical challenges with ease and allow the folk idioms and rather pastoral atmosphere to sing out unimpeded. The beautiful long lines in the last Song of Springtides were sustained by lush harmonies that were never allowed to overpower the overall architectural shape…The Seasons by Tchaikovsky were played with the utmost clarity and a real sense of finger legato that allowed the nostalgic melodies and Gopak type dance rhythms to create just the relief from Ireland’s rather personal view of his beloved islands.”
Christopher Axworthy, Tom Hicks at St Martin in the Fields’, Music Commentary, 2019.
Selected Programming and Performances
Galvin Recital Hall, Evanston USA
Janacek In The Mists
Haydn Sonata in G minor Hob XVI:44
Debussy Images - Book 1
Prokofiev Sonata No. 8 in B-flat Opus 84
Wigmore Hall, London UK
Liszt Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H
Ireland 'The Island Spell'
Shchedrin Sonata No. 1
University of Manchester, UK
Debussy Preludes Book 1 Nos. 4 & 6
Wuorinen Etude
Liszt Sonata in B minor
Wesley Chapel, Harrogate UK
Scarlatti Sonata in E major K162
Beethoven Sonata in A-flat Opus 110
Scriabin Etude Opus 8 No. 5
Stravinsky Trois Mouvements de Petroushka
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester UK
Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Beethoven Sonata in E major Opus 109
Chopin Etude Opus 25 No. 10
Chopin-Godowsky Etude Opus 10 No. 3
Prokofieff Sonata in F minor Opus 1
St James' Piccadilly, London UK
Bach Partita in E minor No. 6
Ireland 'The Island Spell'
Beethoven Sonata in E minor Opus 90
Beetsterzwaag, Netherlands
& Bruce Porter Memorial Series, Granby USA
Mozart Adagio in B minor
Camden Reeves Nine Preludes
Schumann Fantasie in C Opus 17
St Martin in the Fields, London UK
Ireland The Island Spell
Ireland Sarnia
Tchaikovsky The Seasons
Sprague Recital Hall, New Haven USA
Mozart Sonata in E-flat K282
Schubert Drei Klavierstucke D946
Chopin Preludes Opus 28
Chetham's Young Artist Recital, Manchester UK
Busoni Fantasia Nach Bach
Beethoven Sonata in E major Opus 109
Liszt Sonata in B minor
Leighton House, Kensington UK
Ireland Sarnia
Beethoven Sonata in A-flat Opus 110
Stravinsky Trois Mouvements de Petroushka
Liszt Sonata in B minor
The Pump Rooms, Bath UK
Bach-Busoni Chaconne
Beethoven Sonata in E major Opus 109
Brahms Sonata in F minor Opus 5
Chamber Music
Testimonials,Repertoire & Media
"It has been an enormous pleasure for me to work with pianist, Tom Hicks, who must surely be one of the brightest prospects of his generation. He performs with great maturity and artistry, and shows a real depth of knowledge of the music."
Roger Coull (Coull Quartet)
Repertoire
Piano Quintet
Schumann Piano Quintet
Dvorak Piano Quintet
Brahms Piano Quintet
Piano Trio
Brahms Piano Trio in B-flat
Fauré Piano Trio in D minor
Rachmaninoff Trio Elegiaque No. 1
Rachmaninoff Trio Elegiaque No. 2
Selected Collaborative Works
Barber Cello Sonata
Beethoven Cello Sonata in G minor
Brahms Cello Sonata in E minor
Rachmaninov Cello Sonata in G minor
Shostakovich Cello Sonata
Bruch Romanze for Viola and Piano
Brahms Sonatas Opus 120 for Viola/Clarinet & Piano
Schumann Three Romances for Violin and Piano Op 94
Saint-Saens Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Britten Temporal Variations for Oboe and Piano
Beethoven Horn Sonata
Schumann Adagio & Allegro for Cello or Horn and Piano
Piano Duo
Schubert Fantasy in F minor
Debussy Petite Suite
Fauré Dolly Suite
Ravel Mother Goose Suite
Debussy En Blanc et Noir
Debussy Nocturnes (arr. Ravel)
Rachmaninoff Suite No. 1 &2
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos & Percussion