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Acknowledged master
an international reputation...bravura performances...a feast of virtuoso playing...tremendous foundational power and rhythmic intensity...astounding displays of rapid finger work...beautifully judged...an acknowledged master.
Piping the News, U.K.
Superhuman!
superhuman gifts…brilliant technique, riveting rhythm, an amazing ear for color…All that, and he paid more attention to the composer’s metronome markings than most orchestra conductors…Mr Heywood brought it off magnificently. In fact, this was some of the most compelling music making of any kind I’ve heard in ages. Start to finish, this was drop dead music making, with flair and expressivity to burn…even if you think you don’t like organ recitals, don’t even think of missing him.
The Dallas Morning News, USA
Stunning player
a consummate player who exudes musicianship, a breathtakingly accurate virtuoso technique and an imaginative and colourful approach to registration, for whom a huge organ such as this holds no terrors…What a stunning player Thomas Heywood is. His flawless technique is just the platform from which truly artistic and memorable performances flow.
The Editor’s Choice, Organists’ Review, UK
What a concert!
Thomas Heywood delighted the audience…a child prodigy at five…full of technical feats…mesmeric fingering and dancing feet. But it is the virtuoso playing that picks you up on a current of music that fills your heart and delights the spirit, the soul. Heywood spoke from the organ loft and he was witty, knowledgeable and full of interesting anecdotes and stories about the music he was playing. I just love it when musicians talk to their audience and establish a rapport. Heywood has a rapport that a rapper would envy. His bubbly personality led you into Bach, Brahms and Haydn…splendid, showy and difficult. The second half was equally impressive…a wow of keyboard and footwork virtuosity…the selection was superb and brought the audience to a noisy standing ovation. What a concert!
The Munster Express, Ireland
Beyond brilliant!
That the words ‘organ recital’ and ‘fun’ could appear in the same sentence probably wouldn’t occur to many people… But Thomas Heywood’s recital had the audience grinning from ear to ear. Mr. Heywood isn’t just a brilliant organist. He’s a first-class musician, with technique to burn, a visceral sense of rhythm and a virtuoso command of complicated registration changes. Add his ebullient commentary…and it’s hard not to think of him as the Crocodile Hunter of the organ. Mr. Heywood is unsurpassed today as a player of transcriptions. No opera orchestra has played…with more dash, or more irresistible a spring in its waltz rhythms. Mr. Heywood’s own Bach transcription…danced along at a tempo that would press a fine period-instruments orchestra. He gave a spectacularly ‘orchestrated’ performance of Sibelius…He was as compelling…as he was charming. His performances of Rossini and Brahms were beyond brilliant.
The Dallas Morning News, USA
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