A new series of Channel 4's 'The Piano' has begun. Judge Mika is still there, but Lang Lang has left the show and in his place is the multi-talented American musician Jon Batiste. For anyone who isn't familiar with the show, this is the concept: an upright piano is...
Interested in what Susan has to say about all things classical music? Subscribe below and whenever Susan writes a new blog post you will be notified by email. Simple!
Recently I visited my old college in Cambridge to give a recital. While I was there, I took the opportunity to attend two services of Evensong in the college chapel. As always, hearing sacred music sung in those glorious surroundings (see photo) was a striking...
I spent the past couple of days popping in and out of the first round of the Concerto Class held each year by the Edinburgh Music Competition Festival. The Concerto Class is strictly for amateurs; those who get to the final are given the opportunity to play their...
A wonderful night on Monday at the Queen's Hall playing Schubert with violinist Erich Höbarth (see photo). We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the audience and even more so by their warmth. After such a long build-up to this particular concert it felt very...
A great weekend of music-making in Perth Concert Hall with the Quatuor Mosaiques came to an end yesterday with fabulous five-star reviews in The Herald and The Scotsman. During the residency we had the privilege of staying in Methven Castle with its delightful...
Last Saturday there was a lovely article by Ken Walton in The Scotsman weekend magazine about my upcoming concerts with the Quatuor Mosaiques in Perth, and with Erich Höbarth (pictured with me) in Edinburgh. Here it is for anyone who'd like to read it. For some...
An exciting week lies ahead, with a whole cluster of works - nine, in fact - to perform in the space of four days. I'm doing a residency with the wonderful period-instrument quartet, Quatuor Mosaiques, in Perth Concert Hall (in Scotland, before any Australians start...
Last week I played a lunchtime recital in Aberdeen, the first time I'd played in the city for ages. I took a train early enough to allow me to see sunrise over the Firth of Forth, followed by a spectacular curve around the coastline of Fife as the first light was...
It's hard to keep up with changing perceptions in the world of music. We classical musicians are used to being the butt of complaints that our concerts are off-putting because of their focus on accuracy and daunting accomplishment. Unfortunately there's no way round...
I have been haunted this week by articles about the New York collaboration between 'performance artist' Marina Abramovic and pianist Igor Levit. You can read all about it here. Basically, Marina Abramovic seeks to 'get the audience into a different state of mind' in...
While baking a cake this morning, I listened to an excellent BBC Radio 4 programme, 'The Joy of 9 to 5', about managers. Presenter Lucy Kellaway investigated what managers actually do, and introduced us to some new approaches to management, emanating in particular...
I've just finished reading James Rhodes's book Instrumental. Nobody can put down the book without feeling intense sympathy for him and admiration for the way he's turned his traumatic experiences into positive motivation for life as a concert pianist. No-one can doubt...
I've been looking forward to performing Beethoven's song cycle 'An die ferne Geliebte' with tenor Jamie MacDougall next week at Glasgow University's lunchtime concert series. Admission to this popular series is free by the way! Unfortunately Jamie has had to pull out...
On Tuesday 13 October at 1pm I'm giving a lecture-recital about Beethoven's opus 109 piano sonata at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh, on the edge of Edinburgh. Preparing for this event has taken an embarrassingly long time. Practising the sonata itself is one...
I haven't written anything here for a while because I've been away at the International Musicians' Seminar 'Open Chamber Music' in Prussia Cove, Cornwall. We had a week of rehearsals in Prussia Cove (see photo), and then eight of us did a week of touring, giving five...