Get to know pianist Sir Stephen Hough before he makes his Princeton University Concerts debut (Thursday, February 20, 2025 with the Takács String Quartet) by reading his Financial Times Book of the Year collection of essays on music and life, as part of this hybrid in-person and virtual book group presented in partnership with the Princeton Public Library. The book group will culminate in a keynote event with Sir Stephen Hough on Friday, January 10, 2025 at 12:30PM (EST) on Zoom. Participants of this book club will be automatically registered for the keynote and will have the opportunity to pre-submit their questions to Sir Stephen Hough.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Stephen Hough is one of the world’s leading pianists, winning global acclaim and numerous awards, both for his concerts and his recordings. He is also a writer, composer, and painter, and has been described by The Economist as one of “Twenty Living Polymaths.” Hough writes informally and engagingly about music and the life of a musician, from the broader aspects of what it is to walk out onto a stage or to make a recording, to specialist tips from deep inside the practice room: how to trill, how to pedal, how to practice. He also writes vividly about people he’s known, places he’s traveled to, books he’s read, paintings he’s seen; and he touches on more controversial subjects, such as assisted suicide and abortion. Even religion is there―the possibility of the existence of God, problems with some biblical texts, and the challenges involved in being a gay Catholic. Rough Ideas is an illuminating, constantly surprising introduction to the life and mind of one of our great cultural figures.

Visit princetonlibrary.org or call 609-924-9529 for details.