In today’s post I’m continuing my quest to highlight master classes (or public lessons). YouTube is a wonderful resource for teachers and students; we can enjoy and learn from a variety of filmed videos online, all at our fingertips.

Russian pianist Olga Kern was born in Moscow and studied at the renowned Central Music School from the age of five. She also studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Sergei Dorensky and in Imola (Italy) with Professor Boris Petrushansky at the Accademia Pianistica ‘Incontri col Maestro’.

At 17 she won the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, and in 2001, attained international prominence when she became the first woman in over thirty years to receive the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal in the Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 2016, the Olga Kern International Piano Competition was inaugurated; held in New Mexico every three years, Kern serves as Artistic Director and President of the Jury.

Besides her performing career, Kern has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, and has become a noted pedagogue; she is now a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. The following lessons have been filmed at the Manhattan School, and focus on Romantic repertoire. I hope you find them of interest.

Publications

Melanie Spanswick has written and published a wide range of courses, anthologies, examination syllabuses, and text books, including Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). This best-selling graded, progressive piano course contains a large selection of repertoire featuring a huge array of styles and genres, with copious practice tips and suggestions for every piece.

For more information, please visit the publications page, here.