Musician, Musicologist, Teacher
"...a varied musical career..."
I teach privately and at the University of Manchester; I also accompany and coach for exams and auditions.
Having suffered from problems of extreme, debilitating pain when playing, I am only too well aware that small movements, if done wrongly and repetitively, will cause pain. This is no reflection on the teaching I have had - it is simply a matter that what I was practising at the time needed a particular awareness of technique that I did not then have.
I’ve been fortunate to have had very fine piano teachers, including the wonderful duettist Isabel Beyer, and then, while a student at Cambridge, the gifted and charismatic South African teacher Valerie Norman. I have a PGCE teaching qualification, and am a member of the Musicians’ Union, EPTA (the European Piano Teachers Association) and ISME (the International Society for Music Education).
Much of my teaching focuses on releasing tension: playing in a very relaxed - but still controlled - way, paying attention to detail, and above all, listening.
I have devised a series of special technical exercises (and I also use those of Valerie Norman) that promote a sound, safe and musical technique that produces a warm and responsive tone, and I draw on the work of others to support my aims.
I therefore welcome contact from students who are enduring pain or other technical issues, and want help to sort out their technique. Please do get in touch.