William Howard celebrated his 60th birthday with a recital in June 2013 for the Spitalfields Music Summer Festival, which included two of his favourite nineteenth century works, Schubert's posthumous Klavierstücke D946 and Chopin's B minor Sonata. The latter "coalesced into a Largo of mesmerising beauty, Howard's spell-binding legato creating a well of peace", according to a review on the BBC Music Magazine's website. For a full review of the concert, click here 

 

The recital also included the world premiere of a new work, Four Portraits, by David Matthews, commissioned by William Howard to celebrate the composer's 70th birthday in 2013. The four pieces portray Howard and three mutual friends, including composer Anthony Powers, Schubert Ensemble Manager Ann Senior and Czech composer Pavel Zemek Novák, some of whose Preludes and Fugues were also featured in the concert. William Howard has also performed Four Portraits at the Cheltenham and Deal Festivals, at the Djanogly Recital Hall, Nottingham University and in a recital at the Brno Conservatory in the Czech Republic. 

 

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