The Scottish International Piano Competition was founded in 1986 and since that time, the triennial event has brought the world’s finest young musicians to our doorstep. The scope of the event in Scotland and its importance within the wider world of Piano Competitions was realised earlier this year when our 1998 winner, Alexander Kobrin (who had come to us as a young 18-year-old Russian on his first trip to the West) took First Prize in America’s most prestigious musical event– the Van Cliburn Competition.
Quality alone, however, is not enough in present day Arts projects and since 1992 SIPC has included educational projects, Masterclasses, running alongside the main competitive event. A succession of highly talented junior pianists from Britain and abroad have been tutored (before a public audience) by great performers such as Cecile Ousset, Vera Gornostaeva and John Lill.
Masterclasses can be about as daunting for an audience as a game of chess between two grand masters, so when the SIPC Education Committee conceived the notion of introducing the Grand Piano to school audiences with a series of workshops in the classical repertoire, it was a risk……..but a risk worth taking.
First hurdle: a Grand Piano…..where ? In a West of Scotland High School …….?
Even clapped out instruments of the post war era had been wheeled off to that great arena for aged pianos, given “ thumbs down” from all the fresh young keyboards lining the terraces.
Second hurdle: the attention span of 16 year-olds …. lasting beyond one turn of an egg timer ……..as little Cynthia floats her way through “ Für Elise” for Herr Professor.
Third hurdle: the school bell. Well, that proved to be the only insurmountable barrier – but not for the reason you might think - as the concluding paragraph of this article will reveal.
Come October 2003, and we had three schools selected to be hosts for the SIPC Piano Workshops - Cathkin High School, Cambuslang (which had a serviceable grand piano), St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow (which a standing arrangement to hire a Yamaha Grand from Biggars Music) and Hillpark Secondary School, Glasgow (for which Biggars Music brought in a glossy new Grand). Yamaha kindly footed the bill.
In April 2004, we extended the series to Boclair Academy, Bearsden, Kilmarnock College and Gryffe High School, Houston. On each occasion, upwards of 100 pupils were bussed in from neighbouring high schools.
The egg timer was set: first a quick tour of the Grand Piano…. a harp turned on its end, hit by around 90 little hammers with mechanics redolent of the 18th century Spinning Jenny and Looms of the early Industrial Revolution. No (electric) Plug ! A first flicker of intrigue crossed the faces of our teenage audience.
But the Grand Piano could also evoke a searching romance – high tones, low tones, anywhere you like it, with an ever so soft, or crashingly loud touch, and all controlled by the finger tips and pedals.
Poetry in motion: suddenly, this was the Aston Martin of musical instruments. Zoom…..we could sense the 17-year-old lads (new provis. license in breast pocket) were getting the message. All we needed was the girl….. and we were away !
Our young soloist was Chenyin Li winner of the 2001 Scottish International Piano Competition, born in Shanghai, studied in New Zealand, and now teaching at the Guildhall in London. In the April series, it was Arta Arnicane from Latvia, our scholarship winner at the RSAMD.
The sheer brilliance of the Grand Piano, the torrents of sound (far from the repetitive eyewash of commercial piano writing) engulfed the young listeners in wrapt silence. In the words of one Advanced Higher Pupils….
"a brilliant array of talent and repertoire that you entertained us with. I was particularly impressed with the huge variety of repertoire played by Chenyin Li and amazed by how each note of each run and sequence was crystal clear with precision."
Next on the platform came the schools’ own pianists, giving their very best, helped along by tutors Philip Jenkins, Fali Pavri, John Thwaites and Havilland Willshire. Some of these young pianists, like Catherine Patterson (Grange Academy) and Amy Millar (Boclair Academy) are now on the B.Ed. degree course at the RSAMD….our teaching staff of the future.
One young player, however, benefited from the workshops more than he could have dreamed of. He played his Rachmaninov Prelude with uncontrolled enthusiasm – he had not had a piano lesson for six months, and it sounded like it ! The young audience cheered him on, set alight by a Grand Piano which suddenly had twin exhausts. Havilland Willshire subsequently singled him out for special attention and one year later, he won entry to the RSAMD Junior Academy where he is developing his new talent with expert advice. His other interest (playing for Motherwell Juniors F.C.) might have taken him in quite different directions.
More workshops followed in Kilmarnock in October 2005 and in the following year four workshops took place in Glasgow, Renfrew and Paisley. Toni James gave an interesting recital which included the 2004 composition for schools, The Piper at the gates of Dawn by Rory Boyle. Children from Primary 7 to Secondary Advanced Higher were full of questions for the players. Tutors came from the RSAMD and in the Renfrew workshop, the very first winner of the Scottish International Piano Competition, Graeme McNaught (1986) gave encouragement to the young performers in his tutoring session. After his session, a teacher from Eastwood had this to say:
"This had been the first performance workshop my pupils had experienced. They were very tense and nervous at the prospect of having to play in front of so many people. I was delighted when they asked me in the car if they could do it again next year. They all felt that the experience was invaluable. Everyone warmed to Graeme as he made performers feel at ease and went out of his way to involve the audience"
And that third hurdle ? The School Bell…….with the pupils so “taken” by the Grand Piano it was difficult to get the audiences to leave!
2007 Schools performance workshops
Continuing the educational programme leading up to the Competition Performance Workshops on the mornings of 11th and 13th September, a third series of workshops in schools was held during the week beginning 15th April. This educational programme was made made possible by funding support from the Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust and Biggars Music.
As schools south of the Clyde had been given this opportunity in November 2006, it was the turn of schools in the north side to host the April workshops. Our Lady & St Patrick’s High School, Dumbarton, Lenzie Academy and Hyndland Secondary School became the host schools, each receiving delivery of a Steinway Grand Piano for the day, through the good offices of Martin Considine, Biggars Music.
It cannot be stressed too much how effective this provision of a fine concert piano can be to children in the audience, many of whom will not have heard or seen such an instrument before.
The comments written down by some of those who attended the performance in Lenzie are a sample of the educational value of this experience:
It was great!! The best morning I’ve had in a long long time;
It was amazing to see the hands moving so fast around the piano. It was an interesting experience and I learnt a lot;
Interesting, informative, with some beautiful pieces;
Interesting performance. The piano is a lovely instrument. The pieces played were brilliant;
Very inspiring. Great to actually see someone performing. Also nice to learn about the piano itself;
Schools represented at the three workshops were St Michael’s Primary (Dumbarton), Vale of Leven Academy, Govan High School (Glasgow), Our Lady and St Patrick’s (Dumbarton), Boclair Academy (Bearsden), Lenzie Academy, Caldervale High School (Airdrie), St Thomas Aquinas Secondary (Glasgow) and Hyndland Secondary (Glasgow).
Of the three hundred pupils who attended the April workshops, a good number were instrumentalists at upper school age, but as many again were from the younger classes, including children of Primary 7 level.
The young soloist who gave a recital of piano music by Haydn, Liszt and Boyle was Toni James. She was eagerly questioned by the pupils, not just on technical points about piano playing, but about the adventurous life of a pianist making a career in music. Having just won a 10,000 dollar scholarship from the Eastman School of Music, in New York, it was evident that Scottish pianists are highly regarded at an international level.
RSAMD staff members Fali Pavri, John Thwaites and Havilland Willshire gave lively tutorials at these workshops, quickly adapting to a variety of styles ranging from Jackson St. Blues to Fur Elise and Ravel’s Sonatine.
Since 2003 the Competition Education Committee has now promoted sixteen schools workshops in Scotland on behalf of The SIPC and the Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust, constructing a good base on which future educational plans can be laid.
An informative and engaging experience;
Inspiration to all – not just pianists;
A great day ! I really enjoyed seeing professionals in action, and I liked the students too;
A great experience. Everyone’s enthusiasm inspired me.
Reality, however, is never quite universal:
It was OK.
With an education programme focussed on quality and opportunity, SIPC will continue its commitment to bringing piano music into the lives of schoolchildren in Scotland.
SIPC Education Committee: Robin Barr, Diane Levey, Des McLean, Hugh Walker, Norman A Wright, Havilland Willshire.
