Blog
I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
Growing up without live music
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...
Search the Blog
Get The Latest Posts
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!
Admiring swallows on either side of their migration routes
We often walk up past a farm in the Braid Hills where swallows gather each year to make their nests and raise their young. Usually the birds arrive in early May, and until they leave in August for their journey to Africa, we visit the farm regularly to see how they're...
Jeremy Denk mentions my book in this week’s New Yorker
A kind reader in the US (thank you Diana) has alerted me to the fact that my book Women and the Piano is one of Jeremy Denk's choices in this week's New Yorker magazine. New York pianist and writer Jeremy Denk was asked to recommend a few books that deal with the...
BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert today
Today, 27 October, at 1pm on Radio 3 you can hear the broadcast of a bassoon and piano recital given by Rachel Gough, the excellent principal bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra, and me. The concert was part of a series at LSO St Luke's in the City of London,...
Pooling information
Yesterday, when I was coaching at King's Place, we had a tea break between sessions. Some of the younger participants were airing their current dilemmas about fees and conditions. In particular, they were wondering aloud about their situation as young professionals:...
Searching for unknown gems
Inspired by a couple of recent articles about writers who were well-known in their lifetimes and forgotten afterwards, or never acknowledged at the time but discovered years later by accident (like Hans Keilson), I’ve been researching unusual repertoire in the hope of...
Contemplating winter
It's getting cold... When I was out for a walk on a chilly morning this week and saw this little round creature staring into the lake, I felt I was seeing a kindred spirit.
Tuesday masterclass at RCM
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...
CBC ‘In concert’ interview on Sunday
The third and final instalment of my readings from 'Out of Silence' is aired tomorrow by Canadian Broadcasting's 'In Concert' programme. I'll be reading one short chapter from my book, and I'll also be chatting with 'In Concert' host Bill Richardson. They'll be...
ChamberStudio at King’s Place
I’m excited about Sunday, my first day of teaching at ChamberStudio, the new venture at King’s Place in London. ChamberStudio offers high-level coaching for post-graduate and young professional chamber groups who don’t have access to regular tuition any more. As...
Music degrees and earning power
Bemused by all the talk about university degrees and their supposed link to salaries. Lord Browne’s report seems to assume that if you go to university you will inevitably have more earning power than non-graduates in the years ahead. In the performing arts, however,...
In Constable country
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...
On the Wall
In the mysterious world of performance there aren't many markers of how far you've come, so it was a pleasure to walk into the backstage area at Wigmore Hall on Monday and see the Florestan Trio's photo on the wall of the stairwell (see right of picture). I have been...
Pianists and writing: what’s the link?
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...
Schumann at Wigmore Hall
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...