I was planning on doing an introduction about how modern technologies are such a big part of our lives. However, not only might that sound redundant and obvious, I was really getting stuck and not going ahead with the writing. When the important part of this post, is to mention some of the wonderful resources the digital era and the internet have brought with themselves.

First of all a forum I've subscribed recently, Piano Street. Very friendly community of pianists, professional and amateur that share their views, concerns and ask questions to the community! There is also the possibility to upload videos and get feedback in the "Audition Room". It makes me really happy to see that so many people enjoy music and specifically piano, and how despite the distance we can help each other and share. (My user name is maitea if you want to find me there. )

Youtube is no longer something none really knows about.. Moreover is something most of us would not be able to deal without! But it's barely 8 years old! Obviously as in the preceding paragraph, many young musicians use it to upload their work. Some have grown into "superstars" thanks to it, like Valentina Lisitsa, but also, thanks to the generosity of many "donors", we can see/hear, wonderful material that would be otherwise quite difficult to access to! Recordings of Cortot, Casadesus, Novaes, Yudina.. and so many more!And two of my favourite findings: Rubinstein teaching Chopin 1st Ballade and Gyorgy Sebok, whom I've only "met" through youtube, but I consider a profound inspiration. There was a documentary of his online, but I seem not to be able to find it now. 

Other common and incredible resources are Spotify (although not free anymore) or imslp! (What would I do without imslp, I really don't know!) However my last mention (I've always been told, three is the magic number), so my third and last reference is to Skype! Not that obvious at first right? Well, after few requests of former students no longer living in the UK, I gave my first lesson through Skype some days ago! And hey! It was quite a success! As I explain in the teaching page, it is not the same. By definition, it can't be. But it also works, and depending on the needs, interests, availability, then it might be what  works. 

So, despite being an analogical musician I'm tuned to technologies ;)  

Maite 

Happy New Year!

Ok, a slightly belated one.. But still, first week of term! And what a week!

Things have kicked in fast with Onegin rehearsals as well as opera scenes in the Royal Academy ( Don Pasquale and Turandot!). Legal Harmony and DsSq  have had their first term rehearsals too, and I'm about to see my students in couple of hours. Plus I've started to walk-should I say trot?- at the London-pace again. Definitely Christmas time is gone!

2013 has started fully energized with lots of projects coming up, including competitions, concerts and my first masterclass as a teacher! I'll be diligently posting about it all. :) Besides, if time permits, I intend to open a new section on learning resources in the website that hopefully you'll find useful!

Wishing you All a marvellous year full of music!

Maite

This has been last week's read, and what a good one it was! Not only is it informative and inspiring, it is written with a nice lively pace and humorous tone so rare in this specialized genre.

In case the photo is not good enough: Notes from the Pianist's Bench from Boris Berman. 

It distils passion and love for music and piano in every single page, talking from his perspective as a performer and as a teacher. Whilst he goes "technical" at times, it is easy to follow, and I would recommend it even to younger students. I definitely wish I had read this ten years ago. :) (As we always do, wishing things were done by yesterday!) 

Little blog post: check, diary update: check. Saturday piano practice.. here we go! 

Hope you all have a nice weekend, 
Maite

Finally I took the time to upload a little bit of the work done during the Young Conductors Development Programme with Milton Keynes City Orchestra led by Sian Edwards. It was a terrific weekend where we had the opportunity to work fantastic music with a great teacher and orchestra. And I made friends for life. 
M

This is Crisantemi by G. Puccini, not one of his most famous works, but a truly beautiful one. 

Yes indeed! You'll have more awareness, you'll be calmer, will breath better and with the music, and you'll play freer than you ever did before. You will sound better. 

I didn't approach yoga as early as I should have and until very recently any sort of advice I received along those lines was more or less quickly rejected with the usual "I have no time for that", or "I rather practice [piano] more". I was sceptic, didn't believe it could affect my playing and didn't have time to waste. 

It is another silly excuse, but probably the fact that such a recommendation would't come directly from a musician didn't help! Alas, we can be so blind sometimes...

Yoga has a profound effect both in your body and mind, and consequently it will show in the way you play. Yoga brings together mind and body in one, and is precisely that unity, that coherence in oneself that we need to have in order to truly let the music flow from us, and through us. 

I could go on and on , but I want to keep it really brief and hopefully effective, the main message being, TRY IT! Moreover, you don't need to spend a fortune committing months in a studio or gym if you are not ready for it; there are plenty of fantastic tutorials online to awaken your curiosity and help doing the first and most important steps!

This is my little contribution. I have to thank my piano teacher Laura Roberts for having shown it to me. 

I'll finish with some links: this is the Yoga Journal with plenty of info and here goes a Sun Salutation with Esther Ekhart. It can take as little as 10 minutes a day, but it will make such a difference! You can take my word for it! 

As I said earlier.. Try it!

M.

Ps. I have no shares with either the Yoga Journal or Esther! They are two online resources that I like :)

3rd of May, a day not to be forgotten!

It was an incredible experience to come back to the Foundling Museum playing with trombonist Carla Sabater Segurana (as part of the Young Spanish Performers Concert Series) and on the same day, conducting the world  premiere of Ricardo Lorenz's fantastic piece Cacerola Soul. 

Moreover, it was amazing to see the entire Purcell Room standing and singing along Pots Pans, the Pans the Pots, the People! (Cacerola Soul's riff) encouraged from the stage by Omar Puente, the Latin Chamber Ensemble and myself.

A truly remarkable concert organized by ILAMS and tour de force for everyone involved due to the wide ranging repertoire and the amount of players and singers involved. But when I saw the audience singing with us as they did, I knew we had done it right!

Maite