The piano music of the French impressionists has a special place in the development of any pianist’s repertoire. The music of Debussy, Satie and Ravel in particular calls for very special control of tone, texture, colour and use of pedal. The amazing scope of musical pictures painted by these composers calls for a course dedicated to their music. From Debussy’s evocative Preludes to the vivid brilliance of Ravel’s virtuosic writing, this course will explore some of the special challenges and characterstics to be found in this wonderful musical period.

We’re incredibly lucky to have secured the services of Warren Mailley-Smith for this course. Warren regularly plays the music of impressionistic composers in concerts across the UK, and his legendary skills of memorisation mean that he has leagues of wisdom to impart to even the most advanced player. This is him in action when he did a recording session at Finchcocks for Classic FM.

The course, for intermediate to advanced players, is an extended 3-day one so that guests can enjoy the bank holiday weekend at a more leisurely pace! Over the course of the weekend, Warren will explore and demonstrate both the technical aspects of playing music of the Impressionist era as well as sessions on how to perform it to the best of our ability.

Amongst others, workshop titles will include:

• The Impressionists & ther music
• Tips for playing Impressionist repertoire

In the masterclass sessions, we’ll look at developing phrasing and articulation, with plenty of tips on performance and how to polish our pieces and make them sound as natural and elegant as possible.

In the evening on Saturday, we are delighted to be welcoming back Erik Satie (played by Alexander Metcalfe) along with Amusia Productions for a magical mystery tour of all things absurd, in a cinematic and live performance of the biography of Satie’s life and career. Read about its Finchcocks debut here.

There can be few people in the world more qualified to talk to us about memorisation, so Warren will also run a session on techniques for memorising pieces and how it can be useful when learning and developing your repertoire.

In between the workshop and masterclass sessions there will be time for private practice on one of our beautiful grand pianos.

Guest will also:

• Will receive a one-to-one lesson with Warren.
• Enjoy access to play on our 9 grand pianos anytime between 7am and 8pm. (There are enough pianos to go round that everyone can play a piano at any given time.)
• Experience a private recital for course participants in the main hall of the family home, performed by Warren.
• Have access to a swim session in our new, heated outdoor pool.
• Join and socialise with a group 8 fellow piano enthusiasts during lunch and dinner.
• Dine in style with lunches and three course dinners prepared by our fabulous chef.
• Experience the Finchcocks bubble, hailed as a “paradise for pianists” by BBC Music Magazine and stay in a grade 1 listed country manor.

For booking enquiries, please contact us on 01580 428080 or fill in the form below.