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…
Tag: Pianist
Micro-Lectures by Boris Giltburg
I’m pleased to feature the first of several ‘micro-lectures’ recorded by Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg. According to Giltburg, the videos will focus on musical or technical questions relating to various pieces. Each lasting just a few minutes, they have been recorded by Louisiana Music at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. I chatted to Giltburg…
Training to be a Repetiteur
Kevin Thraves, who is a repetiteur, accompanist, and teacher, has enjoyed a highly successful career. Here he writes an illuminating article on the prerequisites of this demanding role. As Head of Music Staff in the School of Vocal Studies and Opera at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, one of my main responsibilities…
10 Top Tips for Tonal Beauty
The following article was originally published in Piano Professional magazine. This is an EPTA UK (European Piano Teachers Association) publication. It appeared in the most recent edition, Issue 37. You can read the original article by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page. I have compiled a list of ten top tips…
Piano Week 2014
Piano Week was launched last year by British pianist Samantha Ward. It’s an international festival and summer school for pianists of all ages and abilities which currently takes place in the beautiful surroundings of North Wales. Samantha wanted to build a performance platform for pianists from around the world and she chose North Wales partly because it’s where she grew…
Sonya’s Lullaby Op. 16 by Oliver Knussen
I was introduced to Oliver Knussen’s music as a young student. Playing unusual, less familiar repertoire was always an interesting discovery. Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow in 1952 (and he sadly died in July 2018). His father was the principal double bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra with whom he made his debut in…
From the Adjudicator’s Chair
This week, several readers have contacted me asking whether I could write a blog post on the subject of what adjudicators or jury members are looking for in a competition performance. It’s wonderful that so many of you are preparing for amateur piano competitions all around the world. The main concern or question seemed to…
Pulse Perfection
Over the past few weeks I’ve been coaching several exam candidates; pianists who have come to me to play through their set pieces and other aspects of their respective exams. It’s the time of year for cramming, studying and practising beyond the norm in order to achieve that coveted high mark. There have, however, been…
Piano Talk with Noriko Ogawa: Part 1
Japanese concert pianist has already been kind enough to take part in my Classical Conversations Series and you can enjoy the interview here. However, we decided to meet again and chat more about several subjects. In Part 1 of this two part interview, which was filmed at Steinway Hall in London, we talk about the best…
Sheargold Music Interview
A few weeks ago I spoke to Steven Palmer at Sheargold Music as part of their new video-blog series, about my career and my new book. I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat on camera about So You Want To Play The Piano? Sheargold Music owns a large piano and music shop in Cobham, Surrey. You can watch…
Memorising Tips
I had some interesting responses to the post I wrote a few days ago dealing with memorisation, which you can read here. It was suggested that I should also focus on what happens when memory fails, that is, a memory slip! Therefore, here are my thoughts on this incredibly stressful event in any pianist’s life….
Memorising your piano pieces
‘Who developed the concept of playing from memory?’ This question is often the one asked by many piano pupils, conservatoire students, and professionals. Memorising a work, or playing without the score, certainly puts extra strain on an artist. Every note must be meticulously rehearsed and learned to the point of distraction. In some cases, might…