Courses

Participants in the Summer School can take part in a number of courses in addition to their normal activities:

Piano course

Participants on the piano course will be assigned a personal teacher for the duration of the course. They will receive individual o n e – t o - o n e lessons totalling three hours, spread out over the six days of teaching, and will be part of a class of between four – eight students. More...

Young Pianists

This new course is aimed at the younger pianist, of grade 5 or below. Participants will be placed in Junior (10 & under) and Intermediate (11 & above) divisions.    Regular workshops with other young pianists of a similar ability covering issues such as scales, sight reading, technical studies and aural will be scheduled. More..

Adult Amateur

The Adult Amateur course has proved very popular with enthusiastic adult amateurs for whom performances are preferable in small relaxed venues. This year the course will be coordinated by Kathryn Page, who will meet all the participants at the welcome reception. The week will be planned out so that discussions can take place on subjects that are of interest to the group. More...

Duets

The long awaited Piano Duet Course gives the opportunity to study the wonderful repertoire for four hands in detail during three hours of lessons. Many of the faculty have great experience in this area and will offer thought provoking and practical help in perfecting the challenges unique to duettists. More...

Composition

Participants who wish to study Composition will have daily sessions, workshops and 3 hours of individual coaching with Douglas Finch (week one) and the legendary Ronald Stevenson (week two).

You can be either a complete beginner or an advanced student to apply for this course. More...

Jazz

Students may  study jazz piano with Internationally acclaimed performer Harry Harris (both weeks) and distinguished Chetham’s tutor Les Chisnall (week two). There will be intense individual study, group workshops and opportunities for performance during the week. More...

Improvisation

The Improvisation course offers the unique opportunity to develop extemporising skills under the guidance of some of the world’s leading authorities on keyboard improvisation – Douglas Finch (week one) and Steve Berry /Harry Harris (week two) There will also be opportunities to perform.

No experience is necessary to apply for this course, so if you have always wanted to give improvisation a go, enrol for three hours of individual lessons.  More...

Organ

The Organ course was introduced last year and will be lead by Christopher Stokes who  was appointed Organist & Master of the Choristers of Manchester Cathedral in 1996.  Christopher  is head of Organ Studies at Chetham’s School of Music. more...

Philosophy of Pianism

Jeremy Siepmann’s course ‘The Philosophy of Pianism’ was launched at the 2006 Festival and was a huge success. Siepmann will give each selected participant 3 hours of lessons on music of their choice, exploring the interpretive challenges in each work presented in his unique, visionary and all-encompassing style. This course is only available on week 2. more...