I keep meeting people who tell me they “just don’t get” classical music. Or that they “don’t understand” classical music and therefore cannot appreciate or enjoy it (an attitude which I think is inculcated early on in school and does

When I was a young student I sought out the best teachers, practiced many hours, and performed a great deal of repertoire with the ambition to land a position in a major orchestra. I thought playing well would be enough

Piano accompanists are, rather like page turners, the unsung heroes and heroines of the music world, often receiving smaller concert fees and less prominent billing than the singers and instrumentalists with whom they work. Often unfairly regarded as “failed soloists”,

Why would a talented leading British composer include a document called a Failure CV on her website, alongside details of her extensive oeuvre and the many plaudits for her work?

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire ― Gustav Mahler A sense of reverence seems to haunt every corner of Classical Music. The artform is considered the very pinnacle of man’s artistic, intellectual and spiritual

“Music is the silence between the notes” Attributed to Debussy and also Mozart “…..the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides” Artur Schnabel “Music starts in the silence” Stephen Hough, pianist

prodigy ˈprɒdɪdʒi/ noun noun: prodigy; plural noun: prodigies 1. a young person with exceptional qualities or abilities. “a Russian pianist who was a child prodigy in his day” synonyms: child genius, genius, wonder child, wunderkind

After three decades of music making, teaching, and advocating for the arts, my career has been an inspirational calling. As a young musician, I understood the hard work and dedication, which would be required, but I wish someone had prepared