It’s always a pleasure highlighting various piano courses, but I particularly enjoy featuring this one. PIANO WEEK has been running for seven years, and since 2018 I have had the good fortune to be a faculty member. It’s a wonderful way to spend a week; you can immerse yourself in piano music and meet many new friends, and that’s just for starters! I invited PIANO WEEK directors, Samantha Ward and Maciej Raginia, to tell us more about this innovative course and piano festival…
If you want to venture away from the ‘tried and tested’ this summer, combine your love of music with travel and new cuisine, read on! The touring aspect of PIANO WEEK and its non-selective character alongside our passion for music, have contributed to creating a steadily growing community of like-minded people, music lovers, concert pianists, authors and world-famous guest artists. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have established long-lasting collaborations with Steinway & Sons (in the UK, Japan & China) and Schott Music, which have allowed us to enhance the quality resources on offer. With PIANO WEEK growing organically over the last seven years, we have ensured that a feeling of family remained at the heart of our operations and the festival’s ethos. You can still pick up the phone and talk to us directly if you want to know more about what we do or if you need help weighing up your options. If you are intrigued, here is what our participants say about us:
Since its humble beginnings in North Wales in 2013, PIANO WEEK has travelled to Weston Rhyn (UK), Rugby (UK), Foligno (Italy), Sankt Goar (Germany), Tokyo (Japan), Beijing (China) and has welcomed major names in the industry such as Stephen Kovacevich, Leon McCawley, Chenyin Li and David Fung alongside our in-house team of international concert pianists. We are particularly excited this year that Leslie Howard will join us at Weston Rhyn (Moreton Hall School) on Saturday, 3rd August 2019 in a performance of works by Percy Grainger for six hands on two pianos (tickets will soon be available for purchase on www.pianoweek.com/whats-on). All of the festival concerts are free to attend for our residential and non-residential participants and form an integral part of the PIANO WEEK experience.
The course part of PIANO WEEK is packed full of a variety of different classes, with a great emphasis placed on the performance aspect of piano playing. We accept entries from participants of all ages and abilities, with an age range spanning eighty-four years so far, from absolute beginners through children of all levels, to conservatoire students and adult amateur pianists. We pride ourselves on our all-round, holistic approach to learning the piano and apart from a generous amount of one-to-one tuition and master classes on offer, the programme boasts duet lessons, multiple participant performances as well as theory, composition, listening, harmony, sight reading and memorisation classes. There is a lot of fun for all involved too, as well as ample amounts of chocolate on offer!
Our courses for the summer of 2019 include a week in Foligno (Scuola Comunale di Musica) between 14th and 21st July, two weeks in Weston Rhyn between 21st July and 4th August (Moreton Hall School) and a week in Rugby (Rugby School) between 18th and 25th August. For those of you looking further afield, PIANO WEEK returns to Tokyo (Symphony Salon) between 30th April and 5th May 2020. In the meantime, here is our personalised mini guide to what’s going on:
PIANO WEEK Foligno
When: 14 – 21 Jul 2019
Where: Scuola Comunale di Musica
Price: £1345 – £2190
About: A beautiful ancient town in Umbria, nearby the famous vineyards of Montefalco. The music school is situated in the heart of the old town, with restaurants and bars serving delicious local cuisine at fair prices, coupled with generous aperitivi and gelato which we simply cannot resist…!
Find out more:
http://pianoweek.com/scuola-comunale-di-musica-di-foligno-it/
PIANO WEEK Weston Rhyn
When: 21 – 28 Jul 2019 & 28 Jul – 4 Aug 2019
Where: Moreton Hall School
Price: £1290 – £2035
About: Here, you can breathe in fresh air and enjoy the English countryside around the extensive, safe grounds encircling Moreton Hall School. Enjoy a state-of-the-art Steinway D concert grand piano during all of your performances. If you join us in the second week (28 Jul – 4 Aug), Leslie Howard will be closing the festival (and you’ll have your complimentary ticket!)
Find out more:
http://pianoweek.com/moreton-hall-school-uk/
PIANO WEEK Rugby
When: 18 – 25 Aug 2019
Where: Rugby School
Price: £1290 – £2035
About: We have a state-of-the-art music school at our disposal with an impressive fleet of concert grand pianos and ample practice facilities. The atmospheric Memorial Chapel as well as a second concert hall in the music school will be used for faculty and participant concerts. Currently, this residency has attracted mostly adult participants. A limited number of single rooms on campus are available.
Find out more:
http://pianoweek.com/rugby-school-uk/
PIANO WEEK Tokyo
When: 30 Apr – 5 May 2020
Where: Symphony Salon
Price: ¥225000 – ¥325000
About: For those of you who love travelling long distances and value top notch Japanese cuisine, this is an easy choice! In Tokyo, we are offering a non-residential course option only, with all classes and concerts taking place at Symphony Salon’s in-house concert hall. With its perfect location in the equivalent of London’s East End, there is a feel of old Tokyo just around the corner. Fantastic restaurants with fair prices in every direction…
Find out more:
http://pianoweek.com/symphony-salon-tokyo-jp/
You can apply for any of the above courses by visiting the PIANO WEEK home page (www.pianoweek.com); click on the APPLY ONLINE button in the upper right hand corner (of your desktop computer) or APPLY ONLINE at the top of the page (for the mobile version).
If you cannot join PIANO WEEK this year, we would love to welcome you at the following locations in 2020:
PIANO WEEK Foligno: 12 – 19 July 2020
PIANO WEEK Weston Rhyn: 19 – 26 July & 26 July – 2 August 2020
PIANO WEEK Rugby: 16 – 23 August 2020
PIANO WEEK Tokyo: 30 Apr – 5 May 2020
My publications:
For much more information about how to practice piano repertoire, take a look at my piano course, Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). Covering a huge array of styles and genres, the course features a large collection of progressive, graded piano repertoire from approximately Grade 1 to advanced diploma level, with copious practice tips for every piece. A convenient and beneficial course for students of any age, with or without a teacher, and it can also be used alongside piano examination syllabuses too.
You can find out more about my other piano publications and compositions here.
from Melanie Spanswick https://melaniespanswick.com/2019/05/24/piano-week-2019/
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