Rachmaninoff’s fearsome reputation as a composer, has sometimes put his repertoire out of reach of the amateur pianist, but his lyrical late romantic style and mastery of counterpoint make him a firm favourite amongst pianists and listeners alike.

The challenging nature of his compositions warrant their own course, so we’ve organised a weekend course dedicated to his music.

We’re incredibly lucky to have secured the services of Warren Mailley-Smith for this course. Warren regularly plays Rachmaninoff in concerts in London, 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.

Over the course of the weekend, Warren will explore and demonstrate both the technical aspects of playing Rachmaninoff’s music, dealing in particular with the physical challenges of playing his music.

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, Warren will give a talk and recital on Rachmaninoff, combining music from various points in his life with a biographical commentary that will help us understand the underlying emotions found in his music.

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 practise on one of our beautiful grand pianos including our new Steinway. During these sessions, Warren will drop in to each of the practice rooms to provide individual pointers and tips.

The course is intended for intermediate to advanced players who are keen to bring their favourite works by Rachmaninoff to life. It might well be that there’s a piece that you’ve been struggling with for years that you would desperately like to perfect, or equally there might be something you’ve always wanted to play, but haven’t yet had the chance to really work on.

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