Accompanist

Simon Howat grew up in and is now based in South Buckinghamshire. He was awarded a scholarship to the High Wycombe Music Centre and subsequently went on to study music at Christ’s College, Cambridge followed by piano-accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music in London. There he was taught by Paul Hamburger and took part in a number of masterclasses with Graham Johnson.

Since then Simon has had a busy piano-teaching career and has been in demand as an accompanist. He has been the rehearsal pianist for the Wooburn Singers since 1995.

Simon has given numerous performances as both a soloist and an accompanist. He has broadcast on Classic FM as part of the Audi Young Musician Competition and has performed several times at the High Wycombe Swan Theatre. In recent years, Simon has given acclaimed performances of Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto and Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ with South Bucks orchestras.

Recent performances at Wooburn Singers’ concerts have included: Schumann’s Dichterliebe, with the baritone Thomas Guthrie, in October 2006; and Brahms’German Requiem in the piano-duet-accompanied, “London” version, in March 2007.