English

The keyboard faculty took over one of the leading conservatoires in the UK, the Royal College of Music (RCM), for a festival: Piano Fever! For five days, a variety of events were held for the public, presented by its professors and students.

Royal College of Music

Ferrari Piano and a flag

The RCM was founded in 1882 under a Royal Charter, to promote music education and research of the highest standard. Having distinguished figures, such as Holst and Britten, in its history, it attracts talented young musicians from the UK and around the world. About 610 students from 49 countries are currently studying at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral level of the conservatoire in South Kensington in London, just in front of the Royal Albert Hall.

For five days in March, the RCM became a venue for a piano festival. Entering the front door, led by an eye-catching poster about 'Piano Fever!' at the entrance, the foyer was full of people. At the centre of the crowd, an extraordinary, red grand piano caught the eye. It was a special version of the Model D Steinway piano, named the 'Ferrari Red Piano', uniquely painted the same colour as a Ferrari.

Pole Position race wearing racing helmets

Result of 'Minute Waltz race'

Vanessa Latarche, Head of Keyboard

Linked to the high-speed racing car, the event connected with this piano was entitled 'Pole Position'. Every day during the festival, students and professors from the RCM participated in the competition to see who could perform Chopin's 'Minute Waltz' the quickest, and the winner was announced on the last day. Despite being called the 'Minute Waltz', finishing the piece actually within a minute is a great challenge. On the command, 'Ready, go!', the contestants played the piece extremely fast, including a master-pupil duo and a pair wearing racing helmets. The audience of students and the public were excited at seeing the fingers fly. When each player finished the piece, a checkered flag was waved, and the time was recorded on a stop-watch. The winner completed it in 53 seconds.

Vanessa Latarche, Head of Keyboard, who also took part in the race, said, 'Each faculty hosts this sort of festival almost every year. We set a theme each time, such as Mozart or Salon music, which we had in the past and, this year, we decided to hold the festival in March, featuring Chopin, to mark the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birthday on the first of March. From this kind of fun event to the avant-garde programme, everything is designed, organized, played, composed and presented by our professors, students and the college staff. It is also open to the public free of charge, so we regard it as an important opportunity for the members of the community to feel free to drop by the conservatoire'.

History of Steinway

Performance on Steinway No.1

The event went beyond the spectacle in the foyer. In the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall across the foyer, there was another featured piano, a replica 'Steinway No.1', which was especially loaned by Steinway. The 'Steinway No.1' is the very first piano that Henry Steinway (Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg) ever built, in 1836, years before he established Steinway and Sons in New York in 1853. He put it together in his kitchen in Germany, and there followed the successful history of Steinway pianos. A Belgian piano maker, Chris Maene, was attracted to this so-called 'kitchen piano' in the factory in New York, and spent two years rebuilding its replica, which was on stage during this festival.

Following the lecture about the 'Steinway No.1' by Glen Gough, Managing Director of Steinway and Sons UK, some RCM students played the replica piano. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the differences in the mechanism compared with the modern piano, they performed works by Chopin, Schumann, and Shubert, who were active in the first half of the 19th century, when the original was made, and showed what they would have sounded like in those days. The members of the public in the audience as well as RCM students attended the lecture and concert, and asked some questions, such as, 'What is the main difference between the No.1 and a modern piano?', and 'How did you feel when you played it?'

Live streaming of Non-stop concert

Piano and Plugs concert

Master class

The centerpiece of the festival was a non-stop concert entitled 'Poles Apart', held on Sunday. From 11am to 6:30pm, RCM students came in turn to the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, and performed music by Chopin (1810-1849) and other Polish composers to celebrate 'Chopin Year', including Moszkowski (1854-1925), Szymanowski (1882-1937), Lutoslawski (1913-1994), Szpilman (1911-2000）, and some living composers. This series of performances of 45 pieces by around the same number of pianists was open to the public; anyone could drop in for just 10 minutes or stay for the whole day, and also could watch the live streaming online from home or anywhere all over the world, which was the first attempt in RCM's history to open its doors so wide.

The five day programme was as follows. There were also relaxed jazz performances played on the 'Ferrari red piano' in the foyer, a master class, and contemporary music featuring multiple pianos and electronics instruments composed by RCM students.

Street piano at South Kensington

Alongside these festivals, the RCM regularly provides lots of events for the public. It offers opportunities to familiarize the members of the community with the conservatoire and its students, and also the opportunity to get to know the conservatoire for young musicians who may be thinking about their possible career paths in the future. As examples of events at the conservatoire, they provide free or inexpensive concerts, lectures, open days, competitions, and workshops for children, in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, the Recital Hall, the Britten Theatre, and several other spaces. It also takes part in some bigger festivals, such as the London Handel Festival and the BBC Proms. They teach young musicians in the Junior Department. The RCM Museum of Instruments houses over 1000 precious instruments dating from the 15th century onwards, which is open to the public free of charge, and holds events such as museum tours, talks and performances using its collections.

There are performances outside the RCM as well; for example, regular lunchtime, morning or evening concert series at churches in London, such as St. James's Piccadilly, St. Mary Abbots, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Stephen's church, and museums/galleries, such as the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Venues outside the conservatoire vary from place to place in terms of their atmosphere, condition and audience, which ranges from tourists to children and older people.

Brochre of RCM events

There are about 60 internal and 45 external concerts held each term. These concerts offer the students a range of performance experiences in the real world and confidence about their career before they leave the conservatoire as professional musicians. As well as solo performances, there are many opportunities forensemble performances , which enhance their skills and sometimes lead to the start of a professional career based on that ensemble. These performance opportunities are supported by the career development team of RCM as part of the education programme. The students are asked to perform at least once a year to obtain some of their credits, and they can also apply for further opportunities. There is a chance that they will receive paid concert offers through the RCM. It is one of the distinguished features of the RCM that they strongly support students to prepare to stand on their own two feet as professional musicians through establishing regular relationships with external music organizations and offering opportunities for students to experience the world while they are still in the conservatoire.

Report: Chigusa Futako