This month saw the launch of our new Piano Festival, a revamp of the traditional Piano Prizes with some exciting innovations.
Two brand new competitive classes were introduced: a prize for playing a piece by a female composer or arranger, and another for a work by a composer from beyond the western “classical” tradition. There were also non-competitive classes for those who prefer to “Just Play” – though they still receive detailed, verbal and written feedback from our Adjudicator. There was even a “Not Quite Ready” class for anyone who felt that things weren’t quite coming together in time.
Our adjudicator was Ivana Gavrić, a British pianist of Balkan origin who performs all over the world and has made numerous recordings. She spoke personally to every one of the 60 participants and her highly perceptive, sensitive and encouraging comments were a great help to all the performers. On the afternoon of the first day of the festival, she gave a Solo Performance Workshop to four of that day’s prizewinners. Her advice was hugely insightful and helped them all to an even fuller understanding of the music they had already played to competition-winning level.
The special treat for our young pianists on this occasion was the fact that the festival was held in the Princess Hall, home of our newly acquired Bösendorfer 280VC concert grand piano. With two whole days’ playing, this was the heaviest use the instrument has had so far in its short life at CLC. It certainly did not disappoint. Despite the nerves associated with controlling such a huge box of colours, all the performers seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. They certainly made it sound wonderful!
Mr Jones, Head of Keyboard
More photos can be found on Zenfolio.
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