BY WENDY ZHANG
This July, I had the opportunity to attend the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference for the first time. I registered for this mainly out of curiosity – what would a one-week conference do to help me as a teacher, and musician, that I cannot get from the abundance of resources online?
Well, I certainly did not expect the amount and quality of information, advice, and tips that I would receive. I probably learnt more about piano teaching and music in general from this conference than an entire year of information consumed online.
I also made quite a lot of connections there – fellow piano teachers, pianists, and music researchers from all over Australia and internationally.
Private piano teaching, in my opinion and experience, is a lonely profession: you teach students by yourself in your own studio, and normally don’t get much interaction and support from other teachers. You have to be self-motivated to keep it going. That’s why this conference was so valuable, as it provided the much-needed forum for private studio teachers to meet, exchange ideas and learn from each other, celebrate each other’s success, and support each other.
This one is a biennial conference, held at a different city in Australia each time. It is mainly for piano teachers (private and classroom), but music researchers, students, and performers may also benefit from attending. Some of the keynote speakers are internationally recognised pianists/educators, and it is worthwhile to check out their profiles before the event.
If you’re wondering what it might be like to attend this conference, here is a list of things I learnt and some useful tips.
Plan in advance and do your research
The 2019 conference was held in five days, with three full days in the middle and two half-days at start and finish. With no interstate conference experience whatsoever, I didn’t do much research, and briefly looked at the schedule before I caught the plane. I had no idea how full-on the week would be.
From Tuesday to Thursday, the day would start with a breakfast session at 8.30am, with keynote presentations and breakout sessions throughout the day right until 5.30pm, and usually a concert that would end at 9pm. The breakout sessions usually have three streams running at the same time at different venues, so this requires some strategy and research on the topic and speaker – such as their agenda and area of expertise – so you can get to the sessions that would benefit you the most.
I did not do much research, and panicked when I had to choose sessions. But I was lucky to have found some friends quickly, and got some advice on the sessions and speakers. We also shared notes for the sessions that we could not attend, which was tremendously helpful.
Attend the concerts
Some of the highlights for me were actually attending the concerts. Initially, I thought the concerts were just add-ons to the conference and a bit inconvenient to attend as they were usually held at night-time, but I was so glad I was there to see them. Joanna McGregor’s concert was so electrifying and energetic that even though I was exhausted from a full day of learning, I came alive when she hit the first keys! Her encore piece was her own piano arrangement of the Piazzolla Libertango, and I was so fascinated by her playing that it became my Spotify track on repeat.
As she presented her pieces and introduced her music career in her keynote beforehand, it helped me to gain a deeper and thorough understanding of her musical background and influence, and where the ideas and interest came from.
Another fascinating concert was Stalin’s Piano from Sonya Lifschitz, showcasing pieces composed by Robert Davidson to suit various politicians’ speeches as shown on the big screen (including Stalin, John F. Kennedy, Trump, and Gillard). I can suddenly hear the pitch that each politician used, and it was such a tight collaboration between Davidson and Lifschitz that the speeches and piano music became unified to portray certain characters and political ideas – both entertaining and thought-provoking for the audience.
Plan your week ahead, especially if you’re travelling from interstate
There were many attendees travelling to Brisbane from interstate, and careful planning was required to get the most out of the conference and ensure a safe and productive week. Doing some research on the venue, the start and finishing time for each day, and transport options was important in making sensible accommodation and transport choices.
In my case, I initially wanted to stay in Southbank as it was closer to the university campus where the conference was held, and I could walk there in 30 minutes. However, I checked the schedule and found that the night-time concerts would finish at 9pm or 9.30pm, and walking back by myself would not be sensible; there were not many buses running to Southbank at that time.
I checked hotels in the city and found one quite central, which had a lot of buses going to and from the campus at all times. I was glad I picked this hotel to be my accommodation, as I was able to attend all concerts and some breakfast sessions without thinking too much about transport.
A few teachers I talked to also mentioned that they did not check the transport options before booking the hotels, and regrettably had to miss out on some concerts and breakfast sessions.
Go to the conference with an open mind
Many private teachers work by themselves and develop a set way of teaching. The point of the conference is to learn from others and be challenged on your own assumptions, beliefs, and methods of teaching, and I found that coming with an open mind and ready to be challenged was very important.
An example of this was that I always believed in the importance of sight-reading as the crucial first step for beginner lessons. However, I was challenged a lot on this idea, as many teachers presented on teaching rote (repetition) or other methods to young beginners.
Jocelyn E. Kotchie presented on teaching by colour-play (assigning colours for each note, and teaching the children to do colouring-in on the notes before letting them play), which was very insightful from a child psychology perspective and made me question my own assumptions and teaching methods.
Make connections and conversations
I was a bit scared when I first registered for this conference, travelling to Brisbane alone and not knowing anyone attending this event. What if I make no friends and be there for five days all by myself? Well, this did not happen. On the contrary, I made a lot of connections and really enjoyed the social aspect of this conference.
The moral of this story? If you attend this type of conference by yourself, go with an open mind and you will meet people, because that’s what other people are there for, too.
I talked to many people at the conference – some of them just brief chats at start or end of a session, but they were all meaningful exchanges of ideas, information, and stories that I was able to learn and appreciate. These conversations made me realise that I am not so alone in my pursuit of music making and teaching; that others share the same struggles, challenges, and joys of being piano teachers. I am so grateful to have met these wonderful people through this conference, and I am sure this won’t be my last time.
The next Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference will be held at Perth in 2021 (which I already marked in my diary).
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All images supplied, courtesy Wendy Zhang. Main picture: Erin Helyard’s presentation at the conference.
