Frenchman Maurice Gendron (1920-1990) was known for his poise and elegant, pristine playing. If Daniil Shafran played with unconventional hand positions, Gendron’s are nearest to the ideal. His hands are cello perfect: rounded, relaxed, symmetrical, and produced a shimmering sound.

On 3rd December, 2017, a Verbier Festival Academy alumnus – 18 year old cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason from Nottingham, UK – made his debut in Vancouver, Canada, presented by the Vancouver Recital Society. He and his sister Isata (who accompanied him

Every year, the Verbier Festival Academy invites 50 exceptional music talents from around the world to congregate for 3 weeks in the scenic Swiss Alps, to be mentored by elite artists in preparation for careers as soloists, chamber musicians and

The “concert pianist” is a relatively recent creation. In the middle of the nineteenth century, a time when the technology of piano manufacture allowed piano makers to build bigger, stronger instruments, the “concert pianist” as we understand the role today,

Our next featured cellist, Daniil Shafran, was born in 1923 in Petrograd, now Saint Petersburg, and came by his talent honestly. His father was the principal cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic and his mother Frida Moiseyevna, was a pianist.

Truth be told, as a young aspiring pianist I could never get my head around the music of Alexander Scriabin! Despite the best intentions of my teacher, and supreme technical challenges aside, I simply did not understand his musical syntax.

The spectacular display of superstars in the 2018 Verbier Festival program completely dazzled me. The program comprised of a long list of celebrated “who’s who” in the music universe – András Schiff, Martha Argerich, Richard Goode, Evgeny Kissin, Grigory Sokolov,

I’ve never felt drawn to the idea of the definitive performance. Music is a performing art which keeps on changing– Michael Tippett When I was learning the piano as a child and teenager, I was led to believe there was