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Master Classes, Lectures and Workshops

Valentin Schiedermair has given numerous master classes in Europe and Asia. These typically include a performance of his own, a short lecture and coaching of students. Here is a selection of the most popular master class themes:

 

 

Secrets of Sound

Finding the right sound has occupied pianists from Mozart to the present day. Having studied with pupils of Horowitz, Leschetitzky and Schnabel enables Valentin Schiedermair to share the secret of a pianistic art that is in danger of being lost in today’s unrelenting quest for technical perfection.

 

 

Rhythm Workshop

In this entertaining workshop Valentin Schiedermair enlivens students’ perception and performance of rhythm. To make you a better, happier and healthier musician he takes you from the basics you think you knew to the polyrhythms that can turn much of 20th century music into a minefield.

 

 

Faces of Chopin: Nocturnes and Preludes 

Chopin played Nocturnes and Preludes in every recital he gave. Over his lifetime, Chopin transformed the Nocturne. Starting out by adapting Field’s invention and fusing it with Bellini’s operatic style, he created a sound world that transcends the boundaries of rhythm, melody and harmony. 

 

In the Preludes we find the very essence of Chopin’s style. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of the Polish and Russian approach to playing Chopin and his personal experience of performing and recording these works, Valentin Schiedermair presents a performer’s inside view.

 

 

Schumann’s Piano Music

Few pianists can resist the lure of Carnaval, Kreisleriana, the Symphonic Studies, the Fantasy or the Sonatas. However, many founder on a bewildering array of pianistic and musical challenges, such as the sheer awkwardness of the hand positions, the stretches and endurance feats and the often wilfully contradictory performance directions. Valentin Schiedermair explains and demonstrates how these problems can be tackled from the Abegg-Variations to the larger works.

 

 

Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas

Beethoven interpretation is one of the cornerstones of a pianist’s art. Understanding the musical language of the sonatas requires a creative insight into their composition as well as an understanding of their historical and biographical background. 

 

Having performed all the sonatas himself as well as having heard many great Beethoven players, Schiedermair's approach to the sonatas avoids both romantic exaggeration and analytical coldness but meets their emotional and intellectual challenges head on.