From 8/7-12/7, Mark attended the 16th and his 3rd Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, at Monash University in Melbourne. The conference was an outstanding mix of recitals (including Piers Lane, APPC Patron, and Konstantin Shamray, Winner Sydney International Piano Competition and Senior Lecturer in Piano at Monash), master classes, workshops, and both academic and practical presentations. Mark was at some 21 sessions, and came back with a host of ideas to implement over coming months with his students.
Mark attended a full day seminar on 19/5, arranged by the Music Teachers’ Association, entitled “Expert Preparation of Beginner to Advanced Piano Students”. Teacher, pianist, and AMEB Examiner Anthony van den Broek gave an excellent seminar, highlighting many gems in the AMEB syllabus and how they can be used to create a positive educational environment for all piano students.
Mark is happy to teach from any syllabus, but as Anthony said the depth and breadth of AMEB, particularly for piano, is second to none worldwide, and Mark is looking forward to exploring some of the lesser known pieces with his students. He is presenting students in Comprehensive Preliminary, Grade 1, 2 & 6, and Piano for Leisure Grade 2 this year, and is also looking at the RockSchool curriculum for other students.
Further to my last post, I saw “Amadeus” in the Concert Hall last week. Notwithstanding the 18 piece orchestra and 10 singers, the piece remained true to its origins as a (now classic) play, with full set / costumes / lighting in a proscenium style. The SOH has very much achieved another one of its multi-purpose objectives for the Concert Hall as demonstrated by this production!!
