Indonesian Charm

Over the past nine days I have been touring in the Far East. It’s always a pleasure to work with students and teachers in different parts of the world, and fascinating to note the various similarities in teaching styles, despite the cultural differences. I began my trip in Indonesia, a country I visited briefly last…

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The Maze of Methods Unpacked

I’m in the Far East at the moment on my second visit this year. I was invited by the I-MEC and CYM in Jakarta (Indonesia) to be the 2019 ‘Grand Mentor’, which involved giving a week of workshops and masterclasses for piano teachers and their students. I’ve also been giving classes in Johor Bahru (at…

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Painless Piano Playing Part 2

Today’s blog post has been recently published in EPTA’s (or the European Piano Teachers Association) flagship UK publication Piano Professional, for which I write a feature technique article. It’s the second article focusing on developing a pain free, relaxed piano technique. You can read Painless Piano Playing Part 1, here. In my previous article, Painless…

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Piano Companion

Today’s post has been penned by Sergey Bogdanov, founder and CEO of Songtive. Songtive   publishes Piano Companion, an App for those interested in developing their knowledge of theory and chord progressions. It’s free and can be a most helpful addition to a musician’s tool box. In this post, Sergey explains how to use this app…

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A String of Pearls and the female composer

It’s always a happy experience when one’s work is published, irrespective of the publication or publisher. But this new volume (pictured to the left) is a really exciting one for me. In 2017, pianists and teachers Alla Levit and Antonina Lax invited me to write a piano duet for one of their forthcoming UK tours….

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Let’s make way for the Ladies!

The latest edition of Pianist Magazine is now available and it’s an ‘all women’ affair. Spotlighting Isata Kanneh-Mason, who appears on the front cover, this issue offers all the usual magazine goodies; ‘how-to-play’ articles by Lucy Parham, Nils Franke and myself, highlighting female composers (Maria Szymanowska, Cécile Chaminade, and Clara Schumann), in-depth masterclasses from Graham…

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Federico Colli and Fazioli at Eton College

One of the joys of living in Windsor (UK) is the proximity to many excellent artistic events. There are concerts virtually every week at various churches in the town centre, as well as performances at the Windsor Theatre, recitals at Eton College, and the Windsor Festival runs during September every year.  Evensong at St. George’s…

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Piano Master Classes with John O’Conor

I’m on my holidays this week, so I’m leaving you with a piano master class. I try to feature such classes regularly here on this blog, mainly because they offer a fascinating glimpse into the teaching world of various renowned teachers and pianists. But they also provide practice inspiration, and much interesting information about the…

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5 Tips for Secure Coordination and Quick Movement

This month’s 5 tips for Pianist magazine’s newsletter focuses on the issue of moving quickly around the instrument. I hope it’s useful. Moving quickly and accurately can be tricky. Especially if fast passage work is involved. There are many ways to alleviate this conundrum, but one which can be really beneficial is octave displacement. Yes,…

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Pro Corda at 50

Turning 50 is a special occasion. I celebrated my 50th birthday earlier this year, and on Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the 50th Birthday of Pro Corda, which was marked with an afternoon concert held at the Purcell Room on the South Bank in London. Pro Corda Trust is a music and educational…

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