Welcome to my page! Here you will find some of my favourite piano and orchestral sequences, information about composers, artists, concerts, and midi sequencing techniques.
A Brief Biography
New!
See photos of me from years
ago
I was born in Hull in the north east of England and moved to Harrow North West London where I received my high school and musical education. I won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music where I studied piano and composition on Saturdays. In 1968 I went to the University of Sussex near Brighton to study for a BSc degree in Electronics. I continued my musical studies with various concert pianists including Norma Fisher, Albert Ferber, and played in the masterclasses of Vlado Perlemuter at Dartington, Louis Kentner, and Jorge Bolet in Edinburgh Scotland and the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I was awarded the ARCM diploma with honours from the Royal College of Music in 1976.
I emigrated to the USA in 1980, live near Boston Massachusetts, and work for General Dynamics (formerly worked for GTE) designing telecommunication systems. In my spare time I prepare for piano recitals, play chamber music, prepare midi sequences and occasionally teach the piano. I have given many recitals in the UK, USA, Israel and Argentina, and have played on local radio and television. My repertoire includes concertos by Mozart, Schumann, Shostakovitch, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff which I have played with various orchestras. I have recorded two CDs for QRS Music Rolls Inc. I am presently having occasional lessons with Gabriel Chodos in Boston.
NEW! Review
and Photos from International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs,
June 2002
NEW! Boston
International Piano Competition for Exceptional Amateurs August June 25th-
28th 2003!
New!Listen
to my live performances of Faure Nocturne No 4, Grieg "To Spring", Liszt
"Waldesrauchen", Brahms Intermezzo Op 118 No 2 and
Chopin's
Barcarolle at the Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for
Outstanding Amateurs in MP3 format!
I am thrilled to report that I was selected for the semifinals of the Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs!! Read my review here!
View Photographs of Competition (approx 1.5 MB! Will take a while to load)
This site is now licensed by theAmerican
Society for Composers and Publishers and
this allows me to have copyrighted midi sequences on my page. These may
only be auditioned by streaming midi (left mouse clicking on the filename)
but may not be downloaded and stored on the hard drive. Copyrighted composers
on this site include Rachmaninoff, Godowsky and Elgar. More will be added
soon. Public domain sequences may be auditioned, downloaded and stored
on a hard drive. It is illegal to make MP3s, CDs and to use my sequences
for commercial purposes without my express written permission.
NEW! Read
my review of Les Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano which I played in
during January 2001
New!Photographs and review of Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs
New!Listen to midis of my program for the 1999 Van Cliburn Competition on my "Virtual Recital"
On Friday April 16th 1999 I gave a lecture on Midi and Electronic Music to the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), New England Division, in Sturbridge Massachusetts. You can view my lecture here IEE Midi Lecture
New!Read my interview about midi sequencing, performing and piano teaching on theThe Piano Education Page
Click here to listen to Maurice Ravel's "Pavane For A Dead Princess" which I dedicate to the memory of Princess Diana with all my love
Click on the link above to see a photo of Princess Diana I took during Prince Andrew's wedding, and to hear some music including Traumerie by Schumann and Pomp and Circumstance March No 4 by Elgar. I was deeply shocked and sad to hear about her death, and thought I would include this small tribute to her. Other related links include: Princess Diana: Remember Diana, Princess of Wales
I have tried to make my sequences sound as realistic as possible using realtime recording techniques on a Yamaha Clavinova keyboard. All of my midi sequences are in General Midi Format and will require a good quality wavetable sound card or synthesizer with reverb capability to play them properly and a midi player such as the one provided with Netscape. The orchestral sequences will require 64 voice polyphony such as Roland JV1080 synthesizer. These sequences contain mostly public domain pieces and a few that may still be copyright protected. Copyrighted sequences may be auditioned (streaming midi transmission) by clicking on the sequence and listening to the performance.
New! Barcarolle by Chopin
Here is a photograph of me at Chopin's graveside at the Pere Lachaisse cemetery in Paris during my visit last month
New!Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante by Chopin
Special Notice for commercial and shareware producers: For commercial purposes and shareware I may consider granting a mechanical license for a one time fee per sequence providing they are not used for any illegal purpose. For sequences which are not in the public domain, a mechanical license will also be required from the publisher or from the Harry Fox Agency. Please E-mail me for details.
New!Watch
and listen to video clips of performances of Chopin,
Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Glinka, Schubert and Liszt by the
very talented 15 year old pianist Serg
van Gennip! For best results use a
high speed internet connection such as DSL or Cable Modem. Also requires
Real Player (download from http://www.real.com
)
New! Masterclasses!
Pioneered by Franz Liszt, they are a combination
of concert, lesson, lecture,
interactive discussion between teacher, audience
and student. A masterclass is a great experience for the student, teacher
and music lover. Study with some of the finest musicians
and teachers in the world, enrich your musical life, and make new friends.
Here are a couple of recommended masterclasses during the next few months:
New! Improve your performances of famous works by Chopin, Beethoven and Scriabin with the expert advice of maestro concert pianist John Bell Young in his unique web-based Masterclass.Listen to John explaining how you can improve the interpretation of these works and how to overcome technical problems by way of example and commentary. Send your performances in MP3 format to John and he will even critique them and offer advice for improvement! A really wonderful resource for pianists, music students and teachers!
New! Watch
a multimedia presentation how to prepare for a concert and other topics
useful to a musician
This is an excellent site using the latest
multimedia rechniques but requires Windows Media Player and a high speed
(cable modem) connection.
LONDON MASTER CLASSES with Norma Fisher, Ralph Kirshbaum, Sylivia Rosenberg, Benjamin Zander, Nelly Miricioiu, oustanding teachers of piano, cello, violin, conducting and voice
Piano Texas (formerly TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute : Amateurs Program) at the Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, held during the Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Oustanding Amateurs in Fort Worth.
New!Highly Recommended New Midi Discoveries
In this section I will recommended some oustanding midi sequences I have discovered by browsing the various classical midi sites. I will not put them here due to space restrictions but will refer you to the 1. Gary Lloyd'smarvellous performance of Mendelssohn's Rondo and Capriccioso in E Op 14, a really musical, expressive and virtuoso performance, absolutely wonderful (Classical Midi Connection Recent Additions)
2. Andreas Delmenico's sensitive, expressive and musical performance of Chopin's Nocturne Op 9 No 1 in B flat minor, really delightful (Classical Midi Connection Recent Additions)
3. John Lenehan's excellent performance of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No 2, 1st and 3rd movements arranged for two pianos, sequenced live on a Clavinova at oboeist Malcolm Messiter's house without editing, very musical and expressive. Bravo! Bravo! (Classical MIDI Archives under Rachmaninov)
4. Yuki Noguchi's lyrical and romantic performance of Karol Szymanowski's Variations on a Polish Theme Op 3 ( The Classical MIDI Resource Updates for August 1998). I never heard this before but it is extremely impressive, rather like Rachmaninoff in places.
One of my favourite stores is a bookstore, and I spend many hours in the biography section looking for books on famous musicians and composers. I find that by learning about their lives, seeing their photographs, imagining what they were like, enriches my musical experience of listening to and playing music. I hope to list books on all the composers I have music for on this site, and in doing so provide a useful resource for education and enjoyment.
Recently Updated!My Musical Bookstore
Find helpful BOOKS that I recommend about midi sequencing and music synthesis, biographies about great musicians and composers, musical interpretation and technique, sheet music, making your own recording, and the music business from the enormous selection at Amazon.com's Online Bookstore.
New! Find CDs of works featured on this page and others from the huge selection at
