New pupils and young masters

New pupils and young masters

This week I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of pupils who have come to me for their very first lesson. One, a young boy aged only 5, was very enthusiastic and even at this early stage shows good promise. His sense of rhythm and singing ability for such a young age is very good. When making the booking enquiry his mum told me he is from a musical family, so my expectations were high before we met. I am looking forward to working with both the young boy and his mum to help him grow in to becoming a good pianist.

The older pupils were engaged and attentive too and we all enjoyed the lessons.

Twice this week I have had the pleasure of attending a piano recital by the Chen brothers. James (14) and Jeremy (12) are exciting young pianists who started playing at the age of six. James was awarded the DipABRSM distinction at the young age of 10, performing his debut piano concerto with Teesside Symphony Orchestra in 2016 at age 12! Jeremy achieved distinction for Grade 8 at the age of 9. Both boys were prize winners at the Chopin International Festival in Warsaw in 2016 and they both now study at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.

As part of the Middlesbrough Town Hall Accompany – Classical Cafe events the talented young pianists played a varied repertoire at TP Coffee House and Cafe Ltd in Middlesbrough on Sunday 18th February which kept the audience entertained.

Later in the week on Friday 23rd, the boys played at Hartlepool Town Hall as part of the Hartlepool Music Society 2017-18 Season. This time the repertoire consisted of pieces from J S Bach, Beethoven, Ravel, Chopin, Prokofiev and Liszt. Both performances were charming with the boys introducing each piece with anecdotes about the composer and the piece they were about to play. James finished his performance with Liszt’s La Campanella, No. 3 from ‘6 Grades Etudes da Paganini’ which is generally regarded as one of the most difficult pieces of piano mucic to play.

After the Hartlepool recital, the boys were heading to Manchester for a competition and I am happy to say that James won Concerto and Solo over-all competitions. Well done!

If you have not seen these boys play yet, I encourage you to do so. Not only will you hear some wonderful music you will see the type of performance you can give if you follow your lesson plan and practice, practice, practice.

Have you seen James and Jeremy play? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of these two young pianists.