Information About Alexander - Lewisham teacher -

(2 reviews)

Personal Description:

*New availability from September 2022 onwards - send me a message to enquire!*

I am a pianist and composer living in London with considerable performance and teaching experience. I graduated from Oxford University with a first in Music in 2019, and the second-highest mark in the year, and have recently graduated with an MA in piano performance at the Royal Academy of Music, where I also completed the LRAM teaching Licentiate. I am sponsored by the Universal Music Sound Foundation as a pianist, and also by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. I have been fortunate enough to receive coaching from such internationally renowned artists as Yo Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, Natalie Clein, and the Villiers Quartet, and look to pass on these experiences through my teaching. During my time at Oxford, where I was awarded a Casperd Scholarship at St. John’s College, I performed regularly at the Holywell Music Room and the Sheldonian Theatre among other venues. From a young age, I have performed across a wide range of styles and ensembles, in venues including Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Westminster Hall, and West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge. As a jazz pianist too, I have performed at several of the UK’s leading venues and events with my own group including the London Jazz Festival, Love Supreme Festival, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, and La Petite Halle, Paris, among others.

Tutoring Experience:

I have given private piano tuition to students of all range of ages and abilities for several years, from youngest 7 through to adult pupils.

Tutoring Approach:

Music and learning an instrument should be about enjoyment first and foremost. As such, I am extremely open to finding music of any particular kind that excites and engages pupils, from traditional classical repertoire to popular music. I take a very rounded approach to piano teaching, in which I encourage pupils to listen widely and really get to know the music and musical world of a particular composer or artist as a necessary complement to the process of interpreting the notes. Generally, I aim to combine useful music theory insights with broader stylistic points when teaching a certain piece so that it becomes more than simply the notation the page.

I am also particularly keen on finding appropriate practise methods and techniques for individual students. Practise for many people just starting out with an instrument can be a very frustrating and draining experience. Still, practise remains a commonly neglected area of music tuition even though it comprises such a large part of the process of learning an instrument. In my teaching I emphasise practise methods as a result, because I know that with some guidance it will become a rewarding pastime rather than a chore if students are able to use their practise time most effectively. 15 minutes of concentrated, well-prepared practise a day is far more productive than a long hour of slow, laborious playing!