Stephen Hough’s Piano Clinic

Sir Stephen Hough offers us his fascinating slant on the masterclass format. Stephen will ‘go behind the scenes’ with a group of pianists from the London conservatoires and beyond, generously sharing his pianistic knowledge and practise tips. Expect insights, wisdom and guidance from a master musician.

Sir Stephen Hough describes his Piano Clinic…

‘It struck me a long time ago that there is no such thing as a difficult passage in a piano work. Rather, there are difficult moments within that passage. To isolate those moments and find solutions for the problems is the key to improving the whole passage, and therefore the whole piece. It’s what practising is all about. How often an otherwise brilliant performance has been spoiled by, say, an inability to trill evenly, or a bad fingering making voicing clunky. The examples could go on and on.

A normal masterclass usually displays a pianist at his or her best; then the teacher tries to make an improvement, bringing the performance to concert level. Instead, in these clinics, I want to see you at your worst. I want to see the rough bits, the things you find difficult, not where you shine. I want to deal not with the glossy interpretation of a work overall but with the oil-covered nuts and bolts under the engine.

It’s possible to cover a lot of ground and many students in this format so I only take around 5 minutes per person. Dr Hough awaits, with a stethoscope and a prescription pad in hand.’

Following his Piano Clinic, Stephen Hough will be in conversation with pianist and broadcaster, Keelan Carew including an audience Q&A to complete the session.