I’m delighted to be attending the new Montecatini Piano Festival this year. As many will know from reading this blog, I love to travel with my work and consider it a privilege. I feel travelling is one of the best ways to explore a particular place, culture, or country. This festival is to be held…
Category: Melanie Spanswick
Play it again: PIANO Book 3
Play it again: PIANO is a four-book piano course intended for adult and teenage pianists who have played the piano before and are ‘returning’ to enjoy this pursuit. Book 3 follows directly on from Book 2 of my series. As a recap, Play it again: PIANO Book 1 and 2 were both published in 2017, and…
How to Make a Professional Recording – 16 Tips: Rhonda Rizzo
My guest writer today is American pianist and author Rhonda Rizzo. Rhonda’s previous guest post focused on her new novel The Waco Variations. Rhonda has enjoyed considerable success as a recording artist. I asked her to write about her experiences in the recording studio. One of the biggest goals most musicians have is to create…
Play it again: PIANO workshop at the Frankfurt Music Fair
I’m really looking forward to giving a presentation and workshop at this year’s Frankfurt Music Fair or Musikmesse which takes place from April 2nd – 5th. My workshop will be held on Thursday April 4th at 2.00pm. This presentation focuses on Play it again: PIANO Book 1, 2 and 3. Book 3 will be officially…
The Waco Variations – writing about music: Rhonda Rizzo
My guest writer today is Rhonda Rizzo. Rhonda is an American pianist and author, and in the following post, she explains how and why she started writing fiction. Her first novel, The Waco Variations, has been well received, and here, she outlines the plot and offers a few thoughts on writing about music. “In the…
Stars of the Albion Grand Prix 2019
March is one of the busiest months for music adjudicators or music judges. Many British music festivals, and particularly those affiliated to BIFF, take place during this time, and therefore adjudicators are buzzing around from one to the next, hearing large quantities of young (and older) players. During this past week I’ve been adjudicating in…
International Women’s Day 2019: The Pianist as Composer
To celebrate International Women’s Day, I want to share this lovely performance of one of my piano pieces, recorded by American pianist and writer Rhonda Rizzo. Rhonda lives in Wisconsin. She has made several CD recordings, and has just written and published her first novel, The Waco Variations. She chose to record Inflections which is…
Twiddling Your Thumbs
Recently I’ve been working with several students, aiming to develop strong, active thumbs. This may sound rather strange, but we tend to take the thumb for granted. They protrude at the side of each hand and we just expect them to support the fingers. I’ve written several times, here on this blog and in various…
The World’s First Piano Recording
Today I’m featuring an interesting piece of history, highlighted just this week on the Pianist Magazine’s excellent blog. The world’s first, or oldest, piano recording took place precisely 131 years ago. During this period, Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900) was Britain’s foremost composer. A piano and cornet version of his song ‘The Lost Chord’, composed…
5 Stage Presentation Tips Part 2
My most recent article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter features the art of stage presentation. This often forgotten topic is rarely highlighted, yet it plays a significant role in every performance. This is the second of two articles on this subject, and you can read the first one, here. In my previous article on stage presentation,…
Etude Op. 97 No 1 by Anton Reicha
Some readers will know that I write a regular ‘how-to-play’ article for Pianist magazine. If you’ve yet to discover this magazine, you can find out much more by clicking here. My article focuses on elementary level pieces for students of around Grade 1 – 3 level. It’s actually called a ‘beginners how-to-play’, but in reality…
The Solomon Piano Quintet at Steiner Hall
If you’re a chamber music fan – and it’s hard not to be with such fantastic repertoire on offer – you might be interested in this forthcoming concert to be held at Rudolf Steiner House in London, which is situated near Baker Street. Steiner Hall hosts an International Concert Series presenting many renowned artists, and…