NEWS & EVENTS
This page includes both forthcoming and past events, as well as recent interviews. It also provides information about publications, compositions, and workshops. You will find details on adjudicating, presentations, reviews, as well as holiday and celebratory posts.
Hope Is The Thing at Trinity College Chapel
Over the weekend I was fortunate to visit Cambridge University for a performance of a short choral piece that I wrote for choir a few years ago. This performance was held at Trinity College Chapel and conducted by the senior organ scholar, Augustine Cox. It formed part of a concert celebrating music by British and…
Australian Guild of Music & Speech: The 2026 Piano Syllabus
This week I learned that nearly 60 of my original piano compositions have been included in the Australian Guild of Music & Speech examination board’s new 2026 piano exam syllabus. For a composer, it’s always a delight to hear that one’s music has been included in any publication, but for it to be featured in…
Snapchats Duets & Trios for Beginners
At the end of last year, my fourth publication, featuring original piano duets and trios for students, was released. The Snapchats Duets (four hands at one keyboard) & Trios (six hands at one keyboard) series began in 2016 with just one book containing mainly elementary level duets plus a few trios which are from Initial…
Guildhall Young Artists Online 2026
A Very Happy New Year! I wish you all a wonderful, healthy and happy 2026. We galloped through 2025 at such speed that I hope 2026 will slow down a little! There are many events and projects in the pipeline over the course of the coming year. A few highlights include several forthcoming publications: a…
Favourite Books of 2025
Wishing all my readers a very happy festive season As the year draws to a close, I’m focusing on my favourite books of 2025. I’d like to highlight the following five books which I’ve really enjoyed reading. This is a rather random collection of fiction and non-fiction; some were published in 2025 whilst others are…
Pre-Christmas Cheer
It’s December already and we all know what that means: Christmas time, for those who celebrate. After a busy term, which, for me, finished yesterday, it’s good to have some time to reflect on the past few weeks and look forward to the festive break. The Play it again: PIANO Prep Book (Schott Music), which…
Play it again: PIANO Prep Book
The piano is an intoxicating instrument. Those who have played in their youth often harbour a desire to return to it later in life. Piano ‘returners’ make up an increasingly large cohort of amateur pianists, and whether younger or older, it’s usually fairly easy to pick up again from where you left off. Progress can…
Top Piano Practice Tips: An Interview
UK-based Marcel Zidani is a concert pianist, teacher, and composer. He runs a large Facebook group called Adult Piano Beginners (click here to join) which currently hosts over 44,000 members, and it was this group that proved the original inspiration for my own Facebook group, Adult Piano Returners (click here to join). Marcel is also…
Summer Coaching at the RAM, RSL Awards, and More
Today’s post is a ‘round-up’ of my work over the past couple of months. Book projects are coming to an end for this current year. I have two more to be published before 2026. The first is a beginners’ book for ensemble playing. This is (probably) the final book in my Snapchats duets & trios…
ANZCA Piano Exam Syllabus 2025-2027
ANZCA (Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts Limited) are a music examination board popular across Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. Based in Australia, they have been operating since 1938. ANZCA offers comprehensive programmes for most instruments and this year they have just published a new piano syllabus. There are three syllabus…
The Art of Piano Education Awards and More…
April and May has been a busy time with some interesting work and the conclusion of projects which have been in the offing for a while. These have been satisfying and worthy endeavours and, as usual, I’ve loved my involvement with each one. During the last week of April I took a flight (on a…
Schott Student Edition: Scènes enfantines Op. 92 by Mélanie Bonis
This week marks the publication of my second volume highlighting the music of French late-Romantic composer Mélanie Bonis, or Mel-Bonis as she was often known. Book 1 was published in March and focuses on elementary pieces for children from the popular collection Album pour les tout-petits Op. 103, and you can find out more about…