The Considered Pianist

This course can be booked as a one or two day programme (with a discount for booking both days) as each day will include different lectures and presentations. The course is suitable for adult amatuer pianists of grade 5 standard and upwards.

Each day will consist of:

• One-to one lessons with our distinguished teaching faculty.
• Lectures on all aspects of performance, performing psychology and piano technique
• Participant and faculty recitals.
• Lunch and a post concert dinner will be provided and are inculded in the ticket price as well as teas, coffees and biscuits during the breaks.
• Practice rooms will be available and can be booked for practice sessions during each day.

Please note that under 18s must be accompanied by an adult at all times during the day to comply with Benslow Music Trust's safegaurding regulations, accompanying adults will need to purchase a 'companion' ticket.

Faculty:

Lorraine Augustine is the granddaughter of a Professional Pianist and grew up surrounded by music, beginning formal piano lessons at a young age and knowing from the very first lesson that playing the piano was the only thing she really wanted to do.

Lorraine went on to achieve Diplomas in Performance and Teaching and to study with Pianists such as Graham Fitch, Noriko Ogawa, Artur Pizarro and Leslie Howard and has a Post Graduate Certificate in Performance Teaching from Guildhall School and a Coaching and Mentoring qualification from Guildhall School and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. Lorraine is a regular Adjudicator for Piano Festivals and competitions including the annual Junior Clementi Competition.

As a solo performer Lorraine has performed extensively across the UK including a World Premier of S. G Pott’s Raymond Variations in London in 2015, and has appeared on television, radio and International Piano Magazine. Lorraine continues to perform regularly with upcoming recitals at venues and music societies across the UK.

Lorraine has been teaching piano at GSMD since 2014, initially a regular dep, joining the permanent staff in 2017, she also runs a busy private teaching practice in her studio in Bedford where she lives.

lorraine-augustinepiano.com

Riyad Nicolas Syrian British Pianist was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1989, and has already established himself as a leading figure of his generation on the international performing circuit. He has been complimented by such musicians as Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Uchida Mitsuko.

Riyad has given solo recitals in many prestigious venues at the UK, including Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, Wigmore Hall, Barbican, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. James’s Piccadilly, and Leighton House in London, and Bridgwater Hall and Staller Hall in Manchester. Concert performances have also taken him to USA including a debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington and Chicago Cultural Center (Dame Myra Hess series), Yehudi Menuhin Forum in Switzerland and other performing venues in France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Malta, the Gulf, Lebanon and Syria.

In the UK, Riyad is regularly invited to give recitals hosted by the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe and the Chopin Society UK and performed extensively a solo pianist for over 100 music societies in the UK. He has also been invited to performing numerous UK musical festivals such as Harrogate, Norfolk-Norwich, King’s Lynn, Brighton, Devon, Darlington, Stratford-upon-Avon, Lincoln, Crediton, and Eastbourne.

Riyad made his first appearance as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of ten in Aleppo. Since then, he has performed with many orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall, Emirate Symphony Orchestra in Dubai, Young Musician Symphony Orchestra at St. John's Smith Square, Todmorden Symphony Orchestra, the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra at the opening of the new Damascus Opera House, the Syrian Expat Orchestra as well as with the Gomidas Chamber Orchestra of Aleppo.

Riyad has been selected to be a Tillett Trust Young Artist and an artist at the Countess of Munster Trust Concert Scheme in the UK. He has also won numerous international prizes and awards including First Prize with a recording contract at the Francaix International Piano Competition in Paris, the first Prize at the Ference Liszt International Piano Competition, and the first prize at the Norah Sande Award and the Christopher Duke Recital Prize in the UK. He also won Second Prize at the Seiler International Piano Competition in Greece and the Ciutat de Carlet International Piano Competition in Spain, Educational Award Prize at The London International Piano competition and was a finalist at the Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy.

Riyad first came to London in 2005 when he was awarded a two-year scholarship to study at the Purcell School of Music with Sulamita Aronovsky, continuing to work with her at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated in 2011. In June 2015, Riyad graduated with a distinction in a Master of Performance course at the Royal College of Music, studying with Dmitri Alexeev and Vanessa Latarche, when he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Chappell Piano Competition. Riyad holds extensive experience in teaching piano since 2007 and joined the Junior Department of Guildhall School of Music in 2017.

riyadnicolas.com

Lewis Kesterton is a classical pianist, teacher, and writer. He commenced his formal studies in 2015 at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the guidance of Mark Bebbington and Katharine Lam. He has since studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire under the tutelage of Penelope Roskell, at the Royal College of Music with Mengyang Pan and City, University of London with Laura Roberts.

In 2019, he was selected as the recipient of the John Ireland Trust Piano Prize, as well as receiving the second prize in the London College of Music’s Mona Blackman Competition. Lewis often performs around the capital as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist and is in high demand as a teacher.

Joining the faculty of a private music school in 2016, he began to develop his own pedagogical techniques, transferable across instruments and ensembles, and has studied music education extensively. Since then, he has taught in private music schools across the country, worked in music services, and runs a thriving private teaching practice, focussing mainly on adult learners and advanced young pianists in his studio in West London.

Lewis is currently a member of the piano teaching faculty at Morley College, Head of Piano at he City Literary Institute and the Junior Department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2023 he was appointed as a Trustee of the European Piano Teachers Association UK. He has a particular interest in working with students overcoming injuries and has a passion for helping nurture innovative, 21st Century musicians.

lewiskesterton.com

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Benslow Music, Benslow Lane, Hitchin, United Kingdom