Biography
Declan Hickey is a classical guitarist based in London. Active as a soloist, chamber musician and arranger, his approach to the guitar reflects the instrument’s dynamic history. Ongoing projects include the revival of the 19th-century ‘Great Vogue’ for the guitar in historically appropriate venues, and a collaboration with composer Jonty Lefroy Watt and poet Zadie Loft on a large-scale song cycle for guitar and mezzo-soprano.
Much of Declan’s work is collaborative, involving regular engagements with singers, chamber ensembles, composers, writers, and visual artists. Alongside violinist Eliza Nagle, he is a member of Regency Duo, who were selected as Young Artists by the International Guitar Foundation for the 2023–24 season. With saxophonist Sophia Elger, Declan is a member of the Tondo Duo, who have performed at venues including St John’s Smith Square, the 1901 Arts Club, and the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room. In April 2024, he joined recorder player Lizzie Knatt in a performance at Walmer Castle, Kent, followed by a recital at the Deal Music and Arts Festival in the summer.
As a soloist, Declan has performed across the UK and abroad, including a recital at the Lidköping Festival in Sweden. He has won prizes from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Leicester MusicFest, and the Cardiff Guitar Festival, and grants from Help Musicians and the Tom Acton Memorial Trust. His specialism in British music of the last hundred years includes the complete guitar works of Lennox Berkeley and Michael Tippett. Other recent solo programmes have included works by Roberto Gerhard, Leo Brouwer, Tōru Takemitsu and J.S. Bach.
Declan is passionate about contemporary music. In 2023, he was invited to perform Harrison Birtwistle’s The World is Discovered with the London Sinfonietta Academy, including performances at the Purcell Room and the Folkestone New Music Festival. As a student he was involved with the Manson Ensemble, and has worked with Master of the King’s Music Judith Weir. He has premiered works by composers Toby Anderson, Oliver Rudland, Declan Molloy, Jonty Lefroy Watt, Jack Gionis and Archie John.
Alongside a busy performance schedule, Declan is active as a researcher. As a member of the Cambridge Cohort for Guitar Research, he has presented on the Giulianiad guitar journal (c1832–35), and is currently investigating the 19th-century musician William Ball. His performances are often fuelled by historical and cultural research, as witness a recent programme of Michael Tippett and his East Anglian contemporaries in the composer’s hometown of Wetherden, Suffolk. Declan’s writings have been published in the Lennox Berkeley Society Journal.
Declan read Music at the University of Cambridge, where he took a starred first-class degree. A scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music followed, where he studied the guitar with Michael Lewin and Fabio Zanon, and the theorbo with Elizabeth Kenny. He now runs his own private teaching practice in North London, and holds the LRAM teaching qualification. A full list of upcoming performances can be found here.
Away from the guitar, Declan is a devotee of historical biographies, an intermittent runner, and a collector of obscure cultural artefacts of the 19th century.
