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. In October 2025, Iyad will record the third and final disc, completing the complete piano music of Khachaturian on BIS.

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 made 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, and Northeastern College in California where he was chosen as the Dewing Artist at Mills College.

Previous highlights include Iyad’s return to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, performances at major venues such as the Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, and the Bridgewater Hall, as well as appearances at leading UK festivals including Brighton, Bath and Lake District Summer Music. He has also featured in prominent recital series at the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham, Perth Concert Hall, and Leeds Town Hall.

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

Iyad also regularly collaborates with oboist Armand Djikoloum, and the pair undertook a tour of Scotland in winter 2024. Previous appearances include a performance on Sky Arts for Classic FM Rising Stars live, concerts at Wigmore Hall and the Barber Institute and recitals at 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. 

A Jordanian-Palestinian pianist born in Amman, 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).