This week I'm giving a recital of music by historical women pianist-composers. I'll be playing an Erard grand piano made at the end of the 19th century by the firm of Sebastien Erard in Paris. (Officially the piano is dated around 1900, but a technician told me he...
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!
The Coronation of King Charles III came in the same week that we heard the organisation Psappha, which promotes new music, had been forced to close because of funding problems. This in itself followed hard on the heels of threats to close the BBC Singers and reduce...
Last week I was in Vienna for a few days of Easter holiday. We managed to pack in lots of music-related things: a concert at the Musikverein, an evening at the State Opera, a visit to one of Mozart's apartments, a visit to Haydn's house in what was the village of...
On Tuesday morning, 19 October, I'm giving a masterclass in 'the art of piano chamber music' in the Recital Hall of the Royal College of Music in South Kensington from 10am-1pm. Tickets are free, but you have to book them via this link or by calling the RCM box office...
To East Bergholt in Suffolk for a concert with the Florestan Trio. The artist John Constable was born in East Bergholt, and used to walk through the fields to school in Dedham. He later said it was that landscape which inspired him to become a painter. Before the...
In BBC Music magazine, Rebecca Franks muses on why the musicians who write books about their experience of music tend to be pianists. Read her article. It's a fascinating topic and one I'm often asked about. There are various possibilities: pianists are loners, and so...
The first concert of the new season for the Florestan Trio is on Tuesday 5 October at 7.30pm at Wigmore Hall, part of the Schumann bicentenary celebrations. What is it about Schumann which makes him such a favourite of musicians? He isn’t always a favourite at the box...
The Wimbledon BookFest has asked me to mention them, and I'm happy to spread the word as my own event is one of the first in this year's BookFest. The festival runs from 2-10 October and you can find out more here. On the evening of Saturday 2 October I'm giving a...
Yesterday I was at a conference about creativity in performance. There were many interesting speakers, several of whom told anecdotes to make their points clear. At one point we were talking about the curious blend of involvement and detachment that seems to be...
Following on from yesterday's post about the Scottish International Piano Competition, anyone who's interested in the new chamber music round may like to read Kenneth Walton's article on the subject in today's Scotsman newspaper. The chamber final is tonight at 7pm in...
I'm in rainy Glasgow, half way through my fortnight on the jury of the triennial Scottish International Piano Competition. Obviously I can't say much as the competition is still in progress, but I can say how absorbing it's been to hear so many accomplished young...
Much discussion yesterday about Ben Goldacre’s ‘Bad Science’ column in the Guardian. This time he was reporting a piece of good science, a paper by Noola Griffiths which shows that young women violinists are judged more musical and more technically proficient if they...
Today's Glasgow Herald has an article about the Scottish International Piano Competition, which starts next week in Glasgow. I'm on the competition jury. The board of the competition have made some wise and welcome changes to the requirements, which we all hope will...
What a pleasure to hear the John Wilson Orchestra in their Rodgers and Hammerstein Prom, which I heard on television. John Wilson’s arrangements are simply spellbinding. His hand-picked orchestra, with many individually distinguished musicians playing in it, reminded...
Walking over Waterloo Bridge the other evening I decided to pop into the Festival Hall. A very good Afro-Brazilian band was playing in the foyer and a large multi-cultural crowd, people of all ages, had gathered to listen. Many of the audience seemed to be South...