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, which hosts events such as the…

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A Master Class with Murray Perahia

The following master class was filmed on July 5th this year at the Jerusalem Music Centre in Israel. This centre, which is part of the Mishkenot Sha’ananim complex in the neighbourhood of Yemin Moshe in Jerusalem, was established in 1973 by violinist Isaac Stern, and Murray Perahia was appointed president in 2009.   Murray Perahia’s…

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5 Tips for Perfecting That Silence

My latest Pianist Magazine newsletter article focuses on perfecting that silence! We sometimes forget the importance of observing rests, fermatas, or even creating dramatic pauses. Here are a few tips and reminders. Rests, as we know, indicate a place in the score where we literally stop playing. An actual rest is generally a specified length,…

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The London Youth Piano Competition 2022

Competitions have always been a popular fixture in music. Whether you agree with them or not, contests have taken place since the beginning of time, and it’s often the case that the ‘best’ person doesn’t necessarily win; music, being so subjective, is open to many interpretations and, often, beyond technical issues, it’s all a matter…

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Border Tune by Christopher Norton

My guest writer this week is world-renowned composer Christopher Norton. In this post, he offers practice suggestions for his piece Border Tune, which is the second piece from the volume Country Preludes Collection for piano. This piece is featured in List B of the Trinity College London Grade 7 piano exam 2021 – 2023 syllabus. …

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The Resilient Artist: Rachael Forsyth and Helen Sanderdon-White

I’m delighted to welcome Rachael Forsyth and Helen Sanderson-White as my guest writers this week. They have recently written an eBook; The Resilient Artist – a book which will, no doubt, be especially useful for those who have suffered during this terrible pandemic. The eBook is available as a download, all you need to do…

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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 – 2024 syllabus.  I also worked on the Grade 1 – 8 2021 – 2024 piano syllabus, too, selecting some of the repertoire as well as writing many of the performance notes, as I had done for…

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Spot Finger Practice

Pianist Magazine is currently celebrating its twentieth year, and it has been an honour to write for the magazine since 2014. I write a ‘How-to-play’ article in every issue and a ‘5 Tips’ based article for the bi-monthly newsletter. The following piece first appeared in the magazine’s most recent newsletter. It’s a subject which I…

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Narrative Musicianship 2021 at The Juilliard School

My guest writer today is Russian American concert pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski, who is based in New York. Amongst his many exciting projects, Konstantin directs a Narrative Musicianship Course at The Juilliard School. In this post, he writes about the course and his reason for instigating it. Over to Konstantin… Narrative Musicianship is back at Juilliard…

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Montecatini International Piano Competition 2021 | Online Edition

I am delighted to welcome pianist, artistic director and Steinway Artist Aisa Ijiri to the blog. She has written the following guest post highlighting this year’s Montecatini International Piano Competition, of which she is the founder and artistic director. The Montecatini Competition is open to pianists of all nationalities and age groups. There are a…

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