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.
Snapchats Duets & Trios: New recordings by Christopher Norton
Snapchats was originally a collection of short piano duets which was published a few years ago. The volume was republished and updated in 2019, with the inclusion of extra duets and piano trios. This new version has proved popular with both children and adult students and I always enjoy using them in my own sight-reading…
Happy New Year: 10 Years Blogging
I hope you have enjoyed a relaxing festive holiday and I’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. Tenth Anniversary 2022 is an important year for this blog, because on January 28th, it will celebrate its tenth anniversary. When I started this ‘project’ back in 2012, I was in a very different…
Happy Holidays 2021
We’ve almost come to the end of another year. For most, 2021 will surely be one to forget, marred with lockdowns and financial uncertainty. We can only hope that 2022 may offer us all a safe pathway out of this dreadful pandemic. As always, I am grateful to you for your support, and for reading…
2021 Online Global Piano Summit II
The 2021 Online Global Piano Summit was inaugurated last year and is returning by popular demand. The founding members, American concert pianist and Professor of Piano at Peabody Institute Dr. Steven Spooner and Chinese concert pianist Dr. Mei Li, are also co-founders of the International Institute for Piano Artistry. It hosts events like the Chicago…
London College of Music Pre-Grade 1 Piano Exam Syllabus
I’m delighted to have written, compiled and annotated the new London College of Music Exams Pre-Grade 1 2021 – 2025 syllabus. I also worked on the Grade 1 – 8 2021 – 2025 piano syllabus, too, selecting some of the repertoire as well as writing many of the performance notes, as I had done for…
Chetham’s International Piano Summer School 2021
I can clearly recall the first time I was made aware of Chetham’s International Piano Summer School. A friend had participated as a student and had waxed lyrical about the bountiful facets she had encountered; the high calibre artists and teachers on the faculty, the opportunity to eavesdrop on lessons and forge new piano friendships,…
Lost in Thought: Practice Tips
The following post was written for Schott’s magazine üben e musizieren, where it’s been published in the most recent edition. The article is a veritable ‘How-To-Play’ of my little piece ‘Lost in Thought’, which is the first piece in a collection entitled No Words Necessary. I’ve published the English version below, but you can click on…
An Angel’s Footsteps: A Birthday Gift
Today is my birthday, and I want to offer a birthday gift as part of the celebrations, which are certainly low-key this year, as might be expected! For those who teach the piano, or are just learning to play, I hope this free download will provide useful repertoire material. I wrote ‘An Angel’s Footsteps’ a…
Play Women Composers
Play Women Composers is a new digital volume, published by Pianist Magazine, comprising twelve piano works, taking pianists from elementary to advanced level. Featuring nine female composers spanning a couple of centuries, it’s perfect for those who wish to discover new and exciting repertoire, whether that be to learn or to sight read. The download,…
Chetham’s International Piano Summer School Piano Teachers’ Course 2021
I’m really looking forward to leading the Piano Teachers’ Course at the renowned Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in 2021. My course was initially programmed to take place in August 2020, but, due to the pandemic, we decided to run it this year instead. Chetham’s Summer school is hosted every year at Chetham’s School of…
RSL Classical Piano Exams
It’s generally acknowledged that the UK music exam landscape is dominated by three major examination boards; ABRSM (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), Trinity College London, and the London College of Music Exams. These organisations have been around for many years and have garnered quite a following. Therefore a new exam board…
Is the future online?
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and you were able to see loved ones during this lockdown period. There’s no doubt that 2020 will go down in history as one of the most catastrophic episodes of our lifetime – possibly of the century. We…