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I’ve just attended another of my piano teacher’s excellent 3-day courses for advanced pianists. As regular readers of this blog will know, I am a great fan of my teacher’s courses, which provide a supportive, friendly and inspiring setting for study.

The course is run as a series of masterclasses, offering plenty of input from other participants and important one-to-one tuition with Penelope Roskell, who is a highly-skilled and experienced teacher. There are regular breaks which give everyone the opportunity for “piano chat” and on the last day, we have an informal concert followed by a drinks party.

One of the things I love most of all about these courses is the transforming effect they can have on people who may arrive on the first day anxious and uncertain what to expect. Penelope is a very patient and sympathetic teacher, who is able to draw out the very best in people. One of this year’s participants was on the Autumn 2012 course, an anxious player who gradually unwound as the weekend progressed. It was wonderful to see how far she has come, following private lessons with Penelope in the intervening months, and to hear her playing with greater confidence and poise.

Some people come on the course simply to run repertoire by a friendly audience ahead of a concert. Others are preparing for diplomas, competitions or auditions. For me, this course was to encourage me to pick up some new repertoire following my Diploma. I felt very flat in the days immediately after the exam, and the need to prepare some music for the course was just what I needed to get me playing again. I wanted to run some pieces by my teacher to make sure I was heading in the right direction with them. A number of my pianist friends were attending the course this time as well, so in many ways it was a social event for me and the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues. And make new friends too.

As always, the range of repertoire was very wide, from Bach to Satoh (a contemporary Japanese composer), and the standard very high. But there was never a feeling we were in competition with each other. We were there to share repertoire, offer positive feedback on one another’s playing, and learn. I have compiled a playlist on Spotify of all the pieces we played (except for Fazil Say’s transcription of Mozart’s ‘Rondo Alla Turca’, which should be available on YouTube).

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How long have you been playing the piano? 

On and off, since about age 12. Playing implies a bit more than what I did then; playing at playing would be nearer the truth.

What kind of repertoire do you enjoy playing, and listening to? 

Playing, I enjoy Bach more than anything. This is because he wrote pieces for all levels of ability that challenge and inspire the player. Also because of the diversity of beautiful, rewarding musical experiences one gets from exploring his works. No two sittings produce the same interpretation. My second favourite pieces to play at the moment are American songs, by Gershwin, Berlin and Porter.

Listening I love Chopin, Bach, Debussy and Ravel, with Takemitsu looming larger on the radar. Chopin favourites include the Polonaise Op 40 No. 2, Etude Op 25 No 2 and the ‘Largo’ from the 3rd Piano Sonata.

How do you make the time to practise? Do you enjoy practising? 

I work full time and commute daily from the Isle of Wight to the mainland, so practice time in the week is generally tired hours around 8/9 pm. Curiously the tiredness doesn’t seem to matter. I find it so profoundly pleasurable to play at any time.

If you are taking piano lessons what do you find a) most enjoyable and b) most challenging about your lessons? 

The most enjoyable thing is hearing praise from my teacher and demonstrating any progress I may have made. My current teacher Valentina Seferinova is thoroughly encouraging and pleasant to be with so lessons are always a joy. The most challenging thing is preparation, often to my shame at the last minute.

What are the special challenges of preparing for a piano exam as an adult? 

Exam nerves can be quite daunting for adults and of course the time factor is often key for the working person. I took up exams in middle age and there are biological challenges such as less flexible joints, that can be a real difficulty when mastering scales and arpeggios.

Has taking piano lessons as an adult enhanced any other areas of your life? 

I have had a number of teachers including Shirley Camfield on the Island, and now Valentina, who have become friends. Also, playing seriously has opened doors for me to play in a local restaurant and for a local pantomime, meeting lots of people and making many friends and acquaintances. It also motivates me to do something creative in the evenings and weekends and stimulates musical appreciation at concerts and while listening to music. The spin-off benefits are actually countless.

Do you play with other musicians? If so, what are the particular pleasures and challenges of ensemble work? 

I don’t play with other musicians but have occasionally had the pleasure and privilege of criticism from other pianists.

Do you perform? What do you enjoy/dislike about performing? 

I love to perform and hope to do more, perhaps performing classical pieces as I improve. What I love is expressing my feelings about the music to others and hopefully communicating the love I have for the pieces.

What advice would you give to other adults who are considering taking up the piano or resuming lessons? 

I would encourage anyone, who feels they have a talent, to go for it. Do not dwell on negative thoughts about your ability but practice assiduously and you will improve.

If you could play one piece, what would it be? 

Chopin’s Polonaise Op 40 No 2.

Final thoughts: I was inspired very much reading Alan Rusbridger’s story about Gary who found solace from depression by playing piano. I too find it the one thing that gives me creative satisfaction and effective therapy from the trials of existence.

The Baha’i Writings state: “We have made music a ladder by which souls may ascend to the realm on high” This perfectly says it for me.

Ian Digby lives on the Isle of Wight, and recently passed his Grade 8 with Distinction

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by Madelaine Jones

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There is so much orchestral repertoire which is often banished to the realm of the giant concert hall, and the more intimate experience of being able to see the faces of the musicians providing us with such wonderful music is far too often lost. My first visit to Lanterns Theatre Studio, a spacious gem tucked away in the heart of Docklands, provided me with the chance to get acquainted with some deliciously close-up orchestral works at the premiere performance of Ensemble Lunaire. Composed of both graduate musicians and those still studying at conservatoires, the chamber orchestra was formed earlier this year, guided by the interpretative hand of conductor Christopher Atkinson.

The programme started with Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. The acoustic proved absolutely perfect from the outset with the opening flute solo (played by Lindsay Bryden) blooming beautifully in the boomy, giving space of the hall. Washes of colour from the harp shone brilliantly, pizzicatos bouncing around the strings with a keen sensitivity in both orchestra and conductor alike, creating an instantly atmospheric scene. The overlap of various melodic strands was not always brought across to the audience quite strongly enough, as if the orchestra had yet to settle down enough to push their own and each other’s boundaries to the limits, but on the whole, the tonal palette and imaginative interpretation within the structure of the piece was impressive, and the ensemble showed promise even at this early point in the programme.

For the concerto item, we were treated to not one but two performers with sibling soloists Iain and Mark Gibbs, on violin and viola respectively, performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat, K. 364. The grand, yet exuberant opening showed – excuse the pun – another string to the ensemble’s bow, flurries of tremolos and scales excitedly humming and swooping over the full-bodied, rich orchestral sound. Soloists Iain and Mark proved themselves to be in no way daunted by such an animated orchestra, and held the stage with poise and an understated confidence which was refreshing. It was easy to see from the outset that the pair were used to playing with each other (they also form two thirds of the Gibbs trio along with their sister) from the ease with which they exchanged musical material, playing with and passing it between themselves with no disjointedness and yet with entirely different personal touches, Iain being a shade more extroverted and Mark more introspective. Their exchanges had the qualities of a debate, measured and yet intense, as opposed to the fraught, argumentative scrubbing we occasionally get with more egotistic, over-enthusiastic soloists: the cadenza of the Allegro maestoso was particularly remarkable, each one grazing harmonies cheekily as the other whisked through fingerfuls of notes without even blinking. The Andante proved marginally less successful as a whole, the strength of connection between soloists and orchestra a little less focused than in the first movement, but the pulsing string accompaniment with yearning solo lines was still well-shaped and musically presented. The third movement was a return to the spectacularly triumphant feel of the first, and soloists and orchestra garnered a rather hefty bout of applause, and deservedly so.

The second half of the concert was dedicated to something a little different: a collaboration between dance and music for a performance of Copland’s Appalachian Spring, suite for 13 instruments, with new choreography was by Thea Stanton and Alicia Meehan. I am most certainly not a dancer (nor will I pretend to know much about dancing, for fear of being lynched by those who do) but as an engaged and interested audience member, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the offering from all angles, as a piece of collaborative art and as pieces of music and dance respectively. The musical interpretation was full of character, swapping from more melodic sections to impulsive bursts in split-second switches and not a hint of any difficulty. The accompanying choreography gelled with the music wonderfully, and all four female performers (I did say it was a spacious performance space!) handled the material with individuality and flair. As one cohesive unit, both musicians and dancers interacted with assurance, and invested their whole selves into what turned out to be another rapturous-applause-reaping item ending a thoroughly enjoyable programme, and a wonderful first outing for the new ensemble.

www.christopheratkinsonpianist.com

 

Madelaine Jones is a London-based pianist and writer. She was the winner of the Gladys Puttick Extemporisation Competition 2012 along with duo partner and dancer Adam Russell, and was awarded an LCM London Schools and Teachers Award in 2011. Madelaine also has a passion for ensemble playing, duetting with soloists and working with choirs from an early age: her choral accompaniment experience has included working alongside the BBC Singers, the Medway Singers and the Walderslade Primary School Choir. Madelaine has a particular interest in early keyboard music and instruments, previously studying harpsichord with James Johnstone via an Early Music Scholarship at Trinity Laban. She has performed as a harpsichordist and chamber organist with the Trinity Laban Baroque Orchestra and Vocal Ensemble in the Greenwich International Early Music Festival.

 As a soloist, Madelaine is a previous winner of the Medway Young Musicians Awards, and the under-16s category of the Kent Messenger’s Focus competition, judged by Jools Holland. She has also participated in masterclasses with numerous renowned keyboardists, including Cristina Ortiz, Richard Meyrick and Ronan O’Hora. At present, Madelaine is currently attending Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, studying piano and improvisation with Penelope Roskell and Douglas Finch respectively.

Madelaine is also a keen writer. A regular guest-poster for this blog and Zeitschichten, she has also reviewed for Bachtrack.com. She was a winning entrant in the Foyle Young Poets Awards 2008, and has since been published in e-zines and magazines such as Pomegranate and Popshot.

www.madelainejones.co.uk