Lecture “What about the Twiddly Bits?” with Charlotte Turner
Stoller HallThe first of the lectures for the 2026 course. This lecture explores how to approach ornamentation in Baroque keyboard music by understanding the expressive logic behind it. Charlotte Turner will discuss the principles of preparation, dissonance and resolution, showing how ornaments arise naturally from harmonic tension and release. Participants gain practical tools for shaping “twiddly …
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Lecture ‘Letting the wrong notes become the right notes (in ANY order!) with Douglas Finch
Stoller HallWe are delighted to welcome Douglas Finch - improviser extraordinaire - to give us an introduction to improvising for fun and profit (And ways of thinking about music)
Lecture – Levelling Down: Why Easier Repertoire Can Produce Better Piano Playing with Murray McLachlan
Stoller HallProfessional, peer and personal pressures often encourage pianists to pursue ever more technically demanding repertoire, sometimes at the expense of artistic freedom and musical satisfaction. This lecture explores how working on easier repertoire can create greater space for imagination, sound quality, phrasing, voicing, colour and character, allowing pianists to develop the most important aspects of …
Margaret Fingerhut Recital
Stoller Hall“One of the most radiantly musical of pianists, she plays with such alluring sensitivity & effortless command that one cannot help but be won over” – International Piano Described by Gramophone magazine as a pianist of “consummate skill and thrilling conviction”, Margaret Fingerhut has a distinguished career which has taken her all over the world. …
Lecture – From Stress to Strength – with Mookie Lee-Menuhin
Stoller HallIn today’s high-pressure world, many of us — musicians and non-musicians alike — live in a constant state of survival mode: stretched thin, always “on,” and striving to stay in control while feeling increasingly depleted. With soaring levels of stress and burnout worldwide — and with musicians facing significantly higher rates of mental ill-health than …
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25 for 25 – a jubilee celebration – part two
Stoller HallTo celebrate the 25th anniversary of CIPSS we are thrilled to present a stunning anthology of 25 new piano miniatures, written by a galaxy of stars associated with the summer school and Chetham’s. World premiere performances of all 25 pieces will be presented across two recitals during the course. Copies of this extraordinary collection of …