PRIVATE STUDIO

I maintain private studios on both sides of the Atlantic, teaching piano, chamber music and classical voice, and welcoming advanced students as well as professional musicians and singers.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My teaching philosophy is based on the principle of clearly explaining why and how to methodically train the body, mind and ear. With a clear mental representation based on anatomy, students can more readily attain the proper posture and alignment that allows flexibility, stamina and speed of the limbs used for playing. The ultimate goal is the acquisition of tonal quality and control, accuracy and speed, with minimum risk of injury.

PIANO

To develop artistic insight, acute listening and critical thinking, I first guide students in becoming gradually more attentive and responsive to the manner in which the basic parameters of melody, harmony and rhythm interweave. I then make them aware of the expressive characteristics of the various stylistic periods, of musical structures, and of the actual meaning – in terms of mood and sound – of the musical context and the indications in the score. Lastly, I help students explore the myriad possibilities of varied expression that phrasing, voicing, sense of forward momentum, timing, dynamics, balance between the hands, articulations, fingering, textures and pedalling have to offer.

My overall objective is for students to be able to make informed decisions when going through the process of learning a piece and devising a coherent and convincing interpretation.

CLASSICAL SINGING

When working on vocal repertoire, the essential difference is that the literary text is the starting point. The words ought to come to life as vividly as possible, which not only signifies diction that is as clear and expressive as the tessitura allows, but perhaps more importantly, that the singer defines what these words mean to that character at that moment in time – text, context and subtext.

MY TEACHERS

My main piano teachers were Yvonne Hubert, Natalie Pépin, Catherine Courvoisier, Maria Curcio and Béla Síki. I participated in a few masterclasses and summer academies, notably the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Banff Centre, benefiting from the expert advice of Leon Fleisher, Martin Canin and György Sebök.

I chiefly studied accompaniment and chamber music with Paul Hamburger (Guildhall School of Music and Drama), completing this cycle of professional development through masterclasses with Menahem Pressler and János Starker.

Keenly interested in classical singing and vocal repertoire, I acquired a rigorous knowledge of vocal technique from Vera Rósza, Richard Miller and Noelle Barker, and it is with Roger Vignoles, Martin Katz and James Lockhart that I developed my vocal coaching technique and immersed myself in the world of Lied, art song and opera.