A young musician friend has been telling me about a fully-funded chamber music group based in Denmark. Each member of the group, which is supported by the Danish Government to expand the reach of chamber music across the country, is paid a full salary and has accommodation provided. They also have a full-time manager who [...]

I’ve been learning the piano part of the first piano quintet by Louise Farrenc, a 19th-century French woman composer who enjoyed a fine reputation in her day as a concert pianist and teacher as well as a composer. Unfortunately, at a time when the French music-loving public was fixated upon operas, Madame Farrenc never wrote [...]

                      Many thanks to everyone who took part in my London masterclasses for playing such a wonderful concert last night! Left to right: me; Perceval Gilles, Pierre-Kaloyann Atanassov, Sarah Sultan (Trio Atanassov); Giuseppina Coni, Giulia Cerra, Valeria Sirangelo (Trio Eclettica); Vashti Hunter, Veronika Kopjova (cello [...]

We’re getting closer now to my London masterclasses in ‘the art of piano chamber music’, this year on 6 and 7 March at the beautiful home of Bob and Elisabeth Boas. Details of the classes are on the ‘Concerts and Events’ tab of my homepage. It’s free to come and listen to the main classes, [...]

Went to see the new Coen Brothers’ film, Inside Llewyn Davis, the tale of a moderately successful American folk singer in 1961, on the cusp of the Bob Dylan era. After the death of his duo partner, Llewyn is trying to make it in Greenwich Village as a solo artist. The title of his new [...]