Piano

Birmingham forms an important nexus in international pianism. Our series of visiting artists is second to none worldwide.

Be inspired by masterclasses with renowned artists

Recently we’ve enjoyed masterclasses given by: Imogen Cooper, Kirill Gerstein, Stephen Kovacevich, Steven Osborne, Peter Donohoe, Orit Wolf, Jeffrey Siegel, Stephen Hough, Marcus Groh, Boris Slutsky, Natalia Trull, Barbara Nissman, Iain Burnside, Piers Lane, Clive Williamson, Andrew West, Håkon Austbø, Pei-Chun Liao, Mikhail Kazekevich, Ivan Yanakov, Anna Tilbrook, Martin Jones, Anna Scott, the Martinu Piano Trio and the Schubert Ensemble alongside two day residencies with Robert Levin, Idil Biret, Christian Blackshaw and Gergely Bognanyi.

I would not be where I am today in my career without the support of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. I benefitted immensely from my Principal Study tutor, but I also had the opportunity to work with tutors from the Strings and Vocal departments for chamber music and lieder coaching. I believe the openness and collaborative atmosphere is what makes the Conservatoire unique. I have also had many high-profile performance opportunities throughout the United Kingdom, thus broadening my professional network and setting up my performance career.

Edward Leung, piano

Read Edward's profile

Reap musical rewards by participating in our ambitious festivals

Every year we host ambitious Festivals. These have included the major solo works, chamber music and song cycles by Schubert, British Festivals (including the complete solo works and chamber music with piano of John Ireland), complete solo works of Debussy, sonatas, preludes and études by Skryabin and Rachmaninov, and even a 12-hour all-night piano recital in Birmingham Town Hall. In 2022 32 student pianists played the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven in a single day.

A group of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire students smiling

In February 2024 a major Conference/Festival will explore Historic Piano Performance Style using our 1888 90 note Erard, 1861 Streicher, 1872 Bösendorfer, 1860 Collard and Collard, 1850's Wieck and older Fortepianos. Such Festivals complement regular Lunchtime and Evening concert series, regular Piano Showcases in Birmingham Symphony Hall, and a varied range of Competitions, Concerto opportunities and weekly Performance Classes for every year group taken in rotation by the large faculty. All students are encouraged to join the Chamber Music coaching and festival programmes and to work with Singers- indeed this is built into course requirements and properly assessed and rewarded.

Practise with pianos of the highest standard

The piano stock includes wonderful older Steinways from the 1930s and 1970s as well as a concentration of Steinways from the 1990s and 2000s, but has recently also been extensively expanded. The Concert Fleet comprises 5 Steinway Model Ds, a new full size Bechstein Concert Grand, and a Yamaha CFX. The teaching studio stock has been augmented with four new Steinway Bs and two Fazioli 212s, with predominately Steinways to follow (6 new Steinway Model Bs in 2017). The Period Piano stock is also being upgraded as part of our contribution to Historically Informed Performance Practise.

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I’ve had a wonderful year in Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as a Weingarten scholar. A busy year full of inspiring concerts, masterclasses, chamber music projects; a year during which I barely had a week without a performance, workshop or some special programme. The Conservatoire hosts week by week many first-class artists who not only perform in concert but usually do masterclasses with us. Probably the most memorable piano masterclasses this year were with Andrei Gavrilov and Fabio Bidini.

I was amazed how many possibilities students have here to perform on stage, also outside the Conservatoire and outside Birmingham. These are wonderful opportunities to get prepared for a professional musician’s life. There are also many internal competitions which probably paradoxically create a very constructive atmosphere between students - they support each other and are happy for each other’s success. There is a very inviting, lively atmosphere in the Conservatoire, a joyful student life. As a pianist I have never seen such a well-organised piano department with so many programmes! There is always something happening in the Conservatoire, you never get bored! Along with the likewise well-organised Conservatoire staff usually everything goes with clockwork precision and everybody is friendly and helpful.

What I got here during this year was far beyond all my expectations – many wonderful musical experiences, good friendships, not to mention my two piano teachers from whom I learned so much! It’s an honour to be a student at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire; I’d come back anytime!

Zsuzsanna Tihanyi