Sharp Music Academy

18/06/2018

Congratulations to my students on their midyear AMEB exam results!
Certificate of Performance A+
Grade 8 A, B+, B
Grade 3 A times 2
Grade 1 A+, A
Preliminary A+

19/02/2018

I will be running Performance Classes in the first week of the April school holidays.

Students will attend classes in small groups of 4 to 6 performers. Each child will perform a prepared piece in a concert manner in front of an audience of peers of a similar standard, parents and myself. Students should bring a copy of the music for each attending participant.

After this, each student shall return to the piano as we analyze his/her performance as a group. Students will actively participate in helping their peers to achieve the best possible performance by listening with the score and then offering constructive criticism in an interactive 'masterclass' type setting.. Students shall identify any technical and musical challenges which the performer may be facing, and make hands on suggestions as to how these problems can be fixed.

Benefits for students participating in this class include:
Performance experience
A relaxed, but focused, attitude to performing
Developing critical listening skills
Expanding problem solving skills
Reinforcement of the importance of quality practicing
The ability to perceive a piece of music both in terms of detail and the 'big picture'
Understanding that the problems they may encounter are not unique to them - they are experienced by others, and can be overcome
Accelerated improvement with heightened concentration in front of peers.

Classes will last between 1 and 2 hours, depending on the level of the participants.

Cost of classes will be $30 per hour

06/02/2018

2018 is off to a great start with all my students back and working hard! Congratulations everyone for an amazing year in 2017, ending with our unforgettable marathon Alexander Peskanov concert and another set of very successful AMEB exams.

February is a huge month for many of you, with Savannah and Johnny off to Hamburg at the end of the month to perform at Stage4kids, and Ivy, Jennifer, Carolyn and Harry all preparing for Scholarship Tests / Scholarship auditions and or Selective Tests. Best of luck to one and all!

Here are some upcoming events - please let me know if you are interested in participating in any of the following:

Grand Prize Virtuoso - deadline for video submissions is February 18 https://www.grandprizevirtuosointernationalmusiccompetition.com/

SutherlandShire Eisteddfod - held in the April holidays - (a lovely little eisteddfod - I highly recommend it! (no website though)

Sydney Eisteddfod - held around August
https://sydneyeisteddfod.com.au/

Bangkok Young Pianists' Concerto Competition - deadline for video audition is April 30 - concerto performance in Bangkok is early August
https://www.bypcc.com/

St George Eisteddfod - held around August
https://www.stgie.org/

AMEB midyear Piano exams - 1st week of June

Con Brio Examinations - online piano exams held any day of the year - I highly recommend these as supplementary exams https://www.conbrioexams.com/

Welcome to Grand Prize Virtuoso! Our competition wants to encourage more young musicians to perform and grow. We believe that our competition can offer many benefits to our participants ...

07/06/2017

30/10/2016

I was asked, in a group, about teaching points for this piece, so I thought I would share them here, with a description of how Savannah learned this piece:
Working on this piece with Savannah has required surprisingly little effort on my part. She is currently preparing a number of pieces which are quite difficult for her, but she has not found this piece challenging at all.
She learned the piece section by section, starting with melodic line only, with fi*****ng that made the melody flow easily, so that she could understand the phrasing.
Then the bass notes and pedal were added.
Then we changed the fi*****ng of the melodic line to 4th and 5th fingers only, focusing on relaxed movements of the arm, and maintaining the flow of the phrases.
Next was to add the remaining left hand of the accompaniment, with a focus on softness and evenness.
Then right hand accompaniment notes were added, starting with RH only practice.
This was followed by some very slow practice of hands together, ghosting the accompaniment.
Finally, we worked on playing all notes fluidly with beautiful, relaxed arms and hands, one beat at a time, then two beats at a time, 4 beats at a time, etc, until each phrase was played with ease.
After that, I didn't really have to do anything more, other than one lesson on talking about the piece as a whole, how the phrases relate to each other.

This is my 8 year old student, Savannah Li, performing Gurlitt Buds and Blossoms, op 107 no 7. This piece is a lovely choice for List A, AMEB Grade 6 piano

12/09/2016

I will be running masterclasses at my studio in Beverly HIlls, Sydney, in the 2nd week of the school holidays. The main focus of the masterclasses will be on increasing musical sensitivity in conjunction with exploring the impact of piano technique on tone production. (Sounds very formal, but don't worry, it's fun!) Selected students will present one or more pieces at the masterclass, with an allocated time per student of 30 minutes.
If you are interested in any of your students participating in a masterclass, please pm me, or leave a message here. In order to ensure that students are placed in a class which will be most beneficial to them, I will need a to see a video recording of each student prior to accepting them to perform in the masterclass.

23/06/2016

A huge congratulations to my beautiful little student, Savannah! In spite of being sick and vomiting a few minutes before her Semi-Finals performance, I am excited and proud to announce that she has made it through to the Finals at Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition!!!!!! Yay, Savannah!!!!!

13/06/2016

http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/11/11/if-youre-busy-youre-doing-something-wrong-the-surprisingly-relaxed-lives-of-elite-achievers/

The Berlin Study In the early 1990s, a trio of psychologists descended on the Universität der Künste, a historic arts academy in the heart of West Berlin.

12/06/2016

My gorgeous little 7 year old student practicing Chopin Waltz in A minor - getting ready for Carmel Klavier.