Links

www.chappellofbondstreet.co.uk

Chappell of Bond Street is London's leading music store and it is from here that I regularly purchase all kinds of music as well as piano music and theory books on behalf of my students. After residing in Bond Street for nearly 200 years, Chappell has moved to larger premises in Wardour Street. The building was formerly owned by the music publisher, Novello, and it was here that I worked as a student to earn an income to help pay music college fees etc. Chappell incorporates the Yamaha London store which sells Yamaha pianos and keyboards. Chappell sells many other instruments as well as books about music, backing tracks, CDs, DVDs, and videos, and claims to have the largest sheet music store in Europe. Music can be purchased online.

www.bbc.co.uk/proms

It was at the BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts where I first heard and got to know the orchestral and choral repertory.There were many inspirational performers such as Sir Malcolm Sargent, Leopold Stokowski and Jacqueline Du Pré. For the most popular programmes and to hear the most famous artists it was often necessary to queue for many hours to get a good standing place in the Arena. I still visit occasionally but nowadays I prefer a comfortable seat! It has always been my belief that students should go to live music concerts. They will learn as much about musical interpretation and performance as they will from any individual teacher.

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk

The newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall was the venue where I heard music performed by the world's great orchestras, conductors and soloists. Particularly memorable were the Philharmonia concerts with Otto Klemperer and Carlo Maria Giulini, the visits of the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan as well as all the top soloists such as Mstislav Rostropovitch, David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin and pianists Artur Rubinstein, Alfred Brendel and Daniel Barenboim. My own teacher, Igor Markevitch regularly conducted the London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras at the Royal Festival Hall. An unforgettable experience was to hear Stravinsky conducting his own music a few weeks before his death, a concert now available on DVD.

www.ism.org

The Incorporated Society of Musicians