BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
There’s a new music education opportunity coming to regional Australia, and more than 130 pianists can take part.
Piano+ is about to launch its first-ever Autumn Piano School in Armidale, with 16 piano teachers leading the way — some including professional pianist Dr Bernadette Harvey, piano pedagogue Samantha Coates, and internationally recognised educator Dr James Cuskelly OAM.
Aside from its location, what sets this program apart is the way it’s been designed to appeal to pianists of all ages, skill levels, and interests. Adults wishing to play purely for joy will take part in daily workshops. Music teachers will be connected with piano pedagogues. Primary school-aged kids will perform in their own concert.
It’s an ambitious new program from Piano+ and the New England Conservatorium of Music, and we wanted to learn a little more about how it’s going to work when it all comes together — and how it will serve the needs of musicians and educators in the region.
Piano+ CEO Marcus Barker — who has two decades of experience with some of the leading arts organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom — tells us all about the school before it kicks off on 17 April.
Hi Marcus, thanks for the interview and congratulations on designing the inaugural Autumn Piano School! Why do you feel this is a program that Australia needs?
Music education in schools is declining, and opportunities for developing intuitive musicianship in a school like this are few. The Autumn Piano School will take place at the New England Conservatorium of Music, Armidale for five intensive days from April 17-21 in 2024, with some of the best teachers from major music institutions. The school won’t solve the larger challenge of declining music education, but Piano+ will play its small role in being part of a solution. It will provide an opportunity for music education, in this case focused on the piano, in regional Australia. The school is a first for Piano+ under its new national focus on the piano.
So how would you say this Autumn Piano School differs from other piano programs in Australia?
A school like this provides the opportunities for regionally based piano students of all ages to learn without the barriers of geography and travel costs. Top-class educators going to regional Australia is so important for our fabric as a creative Australian community.
The school will take place in autumn, which is one of the most picturesque, colourful times of the year in Armidale, with change of foliage from greens to yellow, oranges and reds. The atmosphere will be one of collegiality and learning, and while the days will be spent with intense one-to-one teaching, group masterclasses, workshops, discussion and much more, the overall feel of the school will be one of warmth, sharing a common love and appreciation for the piano.
How did you go about structuring the program in a way that would suit pianists from such wide-ranging musical backgrounds and skill levels?
Any program that offers educational outcomes should be built with the expertise and knowledge needed to ensure the very best for participants. And this carries across all six streams on offer in the inaugural year.
To achieve this, Piano+ has developed a partnership with the New England Conservatorium of Music, who has worked with Piano+ to ensure that the course streams are well structured and are able to cater to a variety of levels of learning.
Importantly, a pedagogy stream for studio teachers is also on offer for those teaching the next generation of pianists and musicians.
Tell us a bit about the pedagogy stream, and what music educators can get out of this experience. What will they bring back to the classroom after attending the school?
The pedagogy stream will aim to work with both studio teachers and classroom teachers. One-to-one private teaching is as equally important, as is providing musical appreciation in a group classroom environment.
I would hope that teachers would come to the school with a wealth of teaching knowledge as a professional development opportunity, thereby investing back into their young cohorts. The boutique size of the pedagogy stream of just 25 participants will provide the chance to ask and probe deeper into those questions, which will assist them in their own teaching practice, whether as a studio or classroom teacher.
Music teaching is a challenging role, as you need to be able to effectively communicate and demonstrate musical ideas regardless of the student’s learning level.
How did you handpick the teachers that you believed would be best-suited to each stream, from beginner to advanced?
Teachers have been selected for their capacity as a performer, as an educator, as a specialist in learning methods, in sight reading, and the list goes on. But importantly, the collective skill brings together a complementary, cohesive, and powerful program at the Autumn Piano School.
Each member of the faculty has been selected for what they bring as an individual to the school. This has then been considered further in how they will collaborate with other members of the teaching staff, forming a broad range of skill and knowledge, which ultimately creates a very strong and interesting program for the participants.
In the Adult Amateur Stream, the Autumn Piano School offers workshops to adults looking to develop their skills for the purpose of playing for joy. Why was it important to you to acknowledge the role of music in life — as well as its role in a music education or a performance career?
The piano has played a part in most of our lives growing up in one way or another — at home, in the school system, on the TV or radio. Whether they were overtly encouraged to take lessons, or the piano had a place in the heart of the family home, or we just loved listening to the piano being played by someone else, we all have our own connection to the piano.
As we grow and life takes us on our pathways, there is still that underlying connection and memory to the piano. The Adult Amateur stream will give the impetus needed to perhaps get back into playing, or for those that are already playing will give them the inspiration and motivation to push to the next level of their learning.
Important to note, this stream is for everyone, regardless of their playing level. Music and playing the piano is for enjoyment, and this is exactly what this stream will offer throughout.
Beyond the Autumn Piano School, tell us a little about Piano+ and how it developed out of the Sydney International Piano Competition. It sounds like Piano+ does bit of everything for pianists?
From big things, little things grow. We hope Piano+ will continue to grow and develop our suite of activities in the coming years. We want to continue to provide a national opportunity for pianists, audiences, philanthropists, businesses — connecting them with opportunities and activities that come from being part of the vibrant piano community.
The Sydney International Piano Competition will mark its 50th year in 2027, and while it will remain the jewel in the crown of Piano+, we acknowledge that audiences have changed since it was established in 1977 — and with it, how people want to engage and consume music and in our case, the piano.
Piano+ will, over time, offer more and more streams of engagement as more and more people become excited and engaged in what Piano+ can offer them.
How do you see Piano+ becoming a solid fixture in the lives of pianists and educators in Australia?
Piano+ has bold aspirations for the future, which span nationally. We want to partner with those who share commonality in what we are doing.
Time will allow Piano+ to incrementally realise our aspirations and to gather our supporters, followers, investors, and partners in an exciting vision of celebrating one of the most versatile instruments that we have in the piano.
As Piano+ cements its toehold in the Australian creative community, I would hope that we are continually inspired by those that we inspire with the piano.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Autumn Piano School is only one of the new initiatives that Piano+ will deliver in its inaugural year. Come and be part of it, or if that isn’t for you, look at what else Piano+ will offer this year and become involved. Better yet, get in touch with us as we would love to share our passion and enthusiasm for the piano with you.
The inaugural Autumn Piano School will take place at the New England Conservatorium of Music in Armidale from 17-21 April.
For more information about each stream, enrolments, and concert tickets, visit the Piano+ website. Enrolments are open until 31 March or until courses reach capacity.
Images supplied. Armidale and New England Conservatorium of Music captured by Terry Cooke.
