Hough was born in
Heswall (then in
Cheshire) on the
Wirral Peninsula, and grew up in
Thelwall, where he began piano lessons at the age of five. His father, who was born in Australia, worked as a technical representative for
British Steel before his death at the age of 54. At an early age, Hough was able to memorise approximately 100
nursery rhymes. After much pleading, his parents agreed to buy a second-hand piano for £5 from a local antique shop. At the age of 12 he suffered what he has described as a "mini-nervous breakdown", triggered by a
mugging incident, which resulted in him taking almost a year off school. In 1978, he was a finalist in the
BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and won the piano section. In 1982, he won the
Terence Judd Award in England. In 1983, he took
first prize at the
Naumburg International Piano Competition in
New York City. In 1985, he was a soloist with the
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell summer series in
Central Park. Hough holds a master's degree from the
Juilliard School, where his studies were assisted by the receipt of the first
Royal Philharmonic Society Julius Isserlis Scholarship for study abroad. He has studied with
Heather Slade-Lipkin,
Gordon Green,
Adele Marcus,
Martin Canin, and Derrick Wyndham. A prominent soloist, he is also a composer and transcriber, and often includes his own works in his recitals. He has published over 30 pieces. In 2009, members of the
Berlin Philharmonic premiered Hough's trio for piccolo, contrabassoon and piano (
Was mit den Traenen geschieht) at the Philharmonie. His song cycles
Herbstlieder (2007),
Other Love Songs (2010), and
Dappled Things (2016) were premiered by members of The Prince Consort. He premiered his
Sonata for Piano (broken branches) at the Wigmore Hall in 2011. In 2012, the
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir gave the world premiere of the orchestrated version of his
Missa Mirabilis. The
Colorado Symphony and
Andrew Litton recorded this work for
Hyperion Records in 2015. Hough has written four piano sonatas,
Partita and Sonatina Nostalgica for solo piano, and the test piece,
Fanfare Toccata, for the 2022
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The
Takacs Quartet commissioned His String Quartet and recorded it for
Hyperion Records. The
Utah Symphony commissioned his Piano Concerto (
The World of Yesterday) and premiered it in 2024. The European co-commissioner,
The Hallé, recorded the piece for Hyperion in 2024 with Sir
Mark Elder. In 2020, Hough's essay collection,
Rough Ideas, won the
Royal Philharmonic Society Award in the Storytelling Category. Faber published his memoir,
Enough: Scenes of Childhood, in 2023. At the 2024
Last Night of the Proms, Hough accompanied soprano
Angel Blue in his own arrangement of two
spirituals and was also the soloist in Saint-Saëns's
Egyptian Concerto, followed by an encore of his own fantasia on "
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". In 2025, Hough's piano concerto
The World of Yesterday had its Asian premiere at the Esplanade show in Singapore with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor Rodolfo Barraez. ==Recordings==