AUSTRALASIAN PIANO PEDAGOGY CONFERENCE 2011
The 10th Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference was held at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga from Monday 4 to Friday 8 July. It gathered together some outstanding presenters, including Murray McLachlan and Penelope Thwaites from England, Dr Koo Siaw Sing from Singapore, Jane McGrath from the USA, as well as a number of Australian teachers of renown.
The patron of the Conference, Piers Lane, gave the closing recital of Chopin Nocturnes.
Unfortunately, only three WAMTA members were able to attend the Conference.
Below are their thoughts on the conference:
For me, the highlight was Penelope Thwaites’ evening recital followed by a lecture on Percy Grainger. She is a leading exponent of Percy Grainger’s music.
Another “discovery” was a lecture by Dr Koo on “Modern styles of Chinese piano music”. Most of us know nothing, or very little, about Chinese music which expresses the rich musical heritage and culture, folk elements and traditional instrumental styles. Chinese piano music is a great addition to the repertoire for pianists and yet, sadly, it is not heard from the concert platforms. (Karina Sysko)
I attended the 10th APPC in Wagga Wagga. What a feast of music we shared! Firstly the world premiere of Peter Sculthorpe’s Gundyarri Wagga Wagga on Monday night, played by Kieran Harvey with Peter Sculthorpe there to explain the music and tell us about the crow sounds in it. Wagga Wagga means ‘place of crows’. A wonderful concert.
There were seven more amazing concerts by world class performers, and the Cereal Concert performed by three very talented boys from the Con. – aged 13, 16 and 17 – who came out to perform for us at 8am. That set the tone for the day, and was worth getting out of bed for.
All the presenters were outstanding, covering all aspects of piano teaching, revitalising our ideas and inspiring us to teach better. The opportunity to speak with them later was invaluable.
Perhaps the highlight for me was the time spent with old and new friends, performers and presenters at meal times. The chance to talk over the day’s events was most memorable.
I would encourage all members to attend the 11th Conference in Toowoomba in 2013. (Jan Veal)
Over all, the Conference presented interesting topics, was very well organised and our congratulations to Kathy Pingel and her team for putting everything together so flawlessly.
