Piano Courses, Workshops and Classes

Melanie has tutored a wide range of piano courses. These include Jackdaws Music Education Trust, Finchcocks Music, Piano Week, the Overseas Masters Winter Piano Academy held at the Yehudi Menuhin School, The Thinking Pianist, and the Montecatini Piano Festival (Italy), as well as at Chetham’s International Piano Summer School.

Over the past few years, she has directed a bilingual community piano project in Germany, giving workshops and classes at the IKM Gelsenkirchen, near Düsseldorf. 

Recent pedagogy presentations: the 2017 UCSI University Piano Pedagogy Conference in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the 2019 Frankfurt Musik Messe (Germany), and in Jakarta (Indonesia) at the I-MEC, where she gave a week of classes and workshops for teachers and students as part of the 2019/2020 Cantata Youth Music Scheme. In January 2023, she delivered workshops for teachers and classes for students in Dubai, at the Centre For Musical Arts and at Dubai College, and in Oman at the Classic Music and Arts Centre in Muscat. 

Workshop programmes in the Far East specifically for teachers include, most notably presentations at the Cristofori Music School, Kawai Music School, and The Musique Loft, all based in Singapore, and the Sinfonia Music Studio (Johor Bahru), Encore Music Centre (Melaka) and Gloria Musica School of Music (Kuala Lumpur), all based in Malaysia. During 2018, Melanie undertook a book tour of Malaysia and Indonesia for her publisher, Schott Music, presenting workshops and lectures in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Surabaya.

In 2021, she directed the Chetham’s Piano Teachers’ Course at the Chetham’s International Piano Summer School (U.K.) and presented a seminar focusing on piano exams to teachers at the U.S.-based 2021 Online Piano Global Summit II and an online piano technique workshop for the Music Teachers’ Association of South Australia.

In July 2023, Melanie direct a regular teacher training programme at the Cristofori Music School in Singapore and will give further workshops for teachers and classes for students at the Tom Lee Academy in Hong Kong.

 

Online Courses and Programmes

Melanie has conducted an online piano programme for piano teachers at the Tom Lee Academy in Hong Kong and hosted a series of online classes for the First Education Group based in Hong Kong and Macau. Recent online tutoring includes courses for Jackdaws Music Education Trust and the London Chinese Children’s Ensemble. 

She runs an online piano studio from her home, working with advanced students and piano teachers, offering private one-to-one lessons, virtual performance platforms, and master classes.

Piano Faculty Teaching 

Currently a member of the piano teaching faculty at Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Eton College, both in the U.K, Melanie is an external tutor at Royal Holloway London University. She is an Honorary Master Teacher at the Tom Lee Academy in Hong Kong, directs Teacher Training Programme at the Cristofori Music School in Singapore, and is a faculty member at the Tokyo International Piano Association (TIPA).

Previous piano teaching positions include Reading University and the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

Adjudicating and Examining

Melanie adjudicates for the British and International Federation of Festivals, acting as a mentor and coach for BIFF adjudicators, and has also examined for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), undertaking both the graded and diploma exams. She has been a member of exam panels for both BMus and MA/MMus final recital examinations at Reading University and Royal Holloway (London) University.

Jury member participation includes the following:

Hong Kong Schools Music Festival in 2013 & 2018 (Hong Kong)

EPTA Piano Competition 2014 (U.K.)

Chicago Amateur Piano Competition 2016 (U.S.A.)

London Junior Department Piano Festival 2016 held at Wigmore Hall (U.K.)

Singapore Performing Arts Festival 2017 (Singapore)

Stars of the Albion Grand Prix 2016 – 2019, chairing the jury (U.K.)

Beethoven Junior Intercollegiate Piano Competition 2017 (U.K.)

Around the Globe Piano Music Festival 2017 – 2020 (U.K.)

Third Overseas Performers Music Festival 2019 (Singapore)

Conry Cup 2021 (Intermediate Award) at Eton College (U.K.)

Montecatini International Piano Festival Competition 2021 (Online Edition)

Ars Nova International Music Competition 2021 (Online Edition)

International Music Star Search 2022 (Online Edition)

London Youth Piano Competition 2022 (Online Edition)

G. Henle Verlag Piano Competition 2022 (Online Edition)

Montecatini International Piano Festival Competition 2022 (Online Edition)

G. Henle Verlag Piano Competition 2023 (Online Edition)

3rd CMTG Piano Competition in Bangkok, Thailand 2023

4th Montecatini International Piano Competition 2023 (Online Edition)

Student Success

Student successes include competition prize-winners: BBC Young Musician 2020 (piano finalist Harvey Lin), Gold Medal winners at the London Youth Piano Competition (2022), and the Montecatini International Piano Competition (2021). Melanie’s students have performed at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and have won undergraduate and postgraduate places (including scholarships) to study the piano at various music conservatoires.

She enjoys working with piano teachers and adult students, many of whom obtain piano diplomas, from the ATCL and DipABRSM to the FTCL and FRSM, in both piano performance and piano teaching, some having entered the teaching profession. 

 

Teaching Videos