Piano (ages 12+, Grade 8+)

There is no deadline to apply, however booking is first come, first serve – so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. We aim to review applications every two weeks, however this is subject to staff availability.

Please see Entry Requirements tab for further information about the supporting materials which are required for application.

Payment of the balance of the tuition fee is payable once applicants have been notified that they have been successful in their application to the course and completed their booking.

Throughout the summer school students can expect:

• 1:1 lessons
• Performance classes
• Improvisation workshops
• Recording sessions
• Ceildih dancing

Students will also learn about:

• Performance technique
• Alexander technique
• Practice methods

The course is designed to give pianists the chance to experience an intensive week of study in a conservatoire environment, culminating in an opportunity to take part in the prestigious Scottish International Youth Piano Competition.

We are delighted to offer this course for students age 12+, with students aged 12-17 having the opportunity to take part in the Piano Competition at the end of the week.

Students will be required to submit a recording for consideration by the Course Leader in advance of being accepted to the summer school.

Please record and send a solo piece which you feel comfortably demonstrates your strengths as a pianist.

Recordings can be uploaded to your online application form as a unlisted YouTube link or mp3. This can be done using your mobile phone, tablet or any hand held recording device.

We would anticipate that students playing at Grade 8 standard and above will benefit most from participation in these summer schools.

We welcome both keen amateur players and specialist music students from schools and conservatoires around the world to join us for this intensive study in Glasgow.

Students will be expected to prepare repertoire as per the requirements of the Scottish International Youth Piano Competition.

The only requirements for repertoire are that the pieces should be of at least on or around Grade 7 standard for the 12-14 age group, and Grade 8 standard for the 15-17 and 18+ age group.

All participants are required to prepare at least two contrasting pieces.

Students should also wear comfortable clothes during classes, and wear smart clothes for the sharing/competition.

Indicative Schedule

Please note this is an example schedule and may be liable to change.

Monday 

• Welcome
• 1:1 lessons
• Performance class
• Seminar

Tuesday 

• Welcome
• 1:1 lessons
• Performance class
• Seminar on technique
• Recording Session
• Social event

Wednesday 

• 1:1 lessons
• Alexander Technique
• Recording session
• Performance Class
• Non-public semifinal
  (Scottish International Youth Piano Competition)

Thursday

• 1:1 lessons
• Recording session
• Improvisation workshop
• Performance class
• Sharing Concert

Friday

• Scottish International Youth Piano Competition

Term Dates

This course runs from Monday, 21 July – Thursday, 24 July from 10am – 6pm.

The Scottish International Youth Piano Competition Final takes place on Friday 25 July, 10am – 5pm.

Please note that it is not compulsory to take part in the competition on Friday, and any students who do not wish to take part are welcome to support their peers in the audience.

Fali Pavri enjoys a busy and varied international career as soloist, chamber musician and teacher. The many eminent musicians he has performed with include the cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, David Geringas, Franz Helmerson, Wolfgang Schmidt and Tim Gill ; violinists, Nicola Benedetti and Ilya Gringolts ; the London Sinfonietta, the Vellinger and Vertavo quartets, the Leopold Trio, Paragon Ensemble,  Scottish Ensemble ; clarinetist Andrew Marriner; singers Roderick Williams and Mark Padmore and composer Mauricio Kagel. Fali is a member of the Rembrandt Piano Trio and he has an exciting duo with his wife, the cellist Naomi Boole-Masterson.

Fali had his first piano lessons were in his native city of Mumbai, India with Shanti Seldon. This was followed by seven years in Moscow where he graduated with distinction from the Moscow Conservatory under Victor Merzhanov. While pursuing postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher Elton he was invited by the great Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovitch to be his pianist on an extensive concert tour of India. This was followed by his London debut at the Purcell Room and concerts in prestigious venues around the world.

He has played concertos with the St. Endellion Festival Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Scottish Proms), the Symphony Orchestra of India and the Edinburgh and Dundee Symphony Orchestras. Recitals include Wigmore Hall concerts with cellists Wolfgang Schmidt and Tim Gill, tours of India, South Africa, Norway and across the UK and performances at international music festivals in India, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus and the USA.

An enthusiastic proponent of contemporary music, he has given world premieres of works by many distinguished composers including a cello sonata by Giles Swayne with Robert Irvine at the Cheltenham International Festival; piano works by the British composer, Howard Skempton, at the Leamington Spa Festival and the world premiere of “In Memoriam”, a powerful new piece for piano and percussion by the Serbian-American composer Vera Stanojevic. Recent London performances have included works by Mauricio Kagel, Harrison Birtwistle and Arvo Pärt for the London Sinfonietta.

He gave the first performance of a newly commisioned sonata for cello and piano by the Scottish composer William Sweeney with the Finnish cellist Erkki Lahesmaa. In February 2013 he was invited to the USA as guest artist at the National Conference of Composers at Ohio State University where he premiered works by Joshua Feinberg, Mei-Fang Lin and Vera Stanojevic. In November 2018 he premiered a new piano concerto written by Vera Stanojevic with the Wind Orchestra of Ohio State University.

Fali Pavri’s discography includes two discs of Swiss Piano concertos with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Another recording, featuring the music of Volkmar Andreae, was awarded the coveted ‘IRR Outstanding’ accolade by the International Record Review. Other discs on the Guild label include two critically acclaimed recordings with the cellist Timothy Gill, featuring world premieres of two works by the Indian composer, John Mayer (“Prabhanda” and “Calcutta Nagar”). In 2009 he recorded another world premiere, the song cycle “Black Sea” by the British composer Anthony Bolton, with the tenor Richard Edgar-Wilson. On the Delphian label, he has recorded CDs of works by Giles Swayne and William Sweeney with the cellist Robert Irvine.

Radio broadcasts include regular appearances on BBC Radio 3, where he has played some unusual and challenging repertoire including the Sinding Piano Quintet with the Vertavo Quartet and Alexander Goehr’s “Das Gesetz der Quadrille” with the baritone, Roderick Williams. A recent broadcast with the violinist Ilya Gringolts featured music by Shostakovich and Galina Ustvolskaja. He has recorded for All-India Radio with Mstislav Rostropovich  and  for CBC (the North-American premiere of “La Trahison Orale” by Mauricio Kagel).

A committed and sought-after teacher with many international prize-winning students, Fali Pavri is Head of Keyboard and Professor of Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has given masterclasses in many countries around the world including recently in Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus,  India, USA and South Africa, and served on the jury of many international piano competitions including Unisa in South Africa, the Van Cliburn Amateur in Texas, the Inaugural Olga Kern in New Mexico  and Maltafest in Valetta.

email: f.pavri@rcs.ac.uk
website: http://falipavri.com/

Aaron Shorr: Since settling in the United Kingdom in 1984, Aaron Shorr has established an international career as soloist, chamber musician and educator. As well as appearing as soloist at London’s South Bankin over thirty concertos, he has toured extensively as a recitalist and chamber musician worldwide. More recent performances have included tours of Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Australia, China, Japan, Korea,Mexico and the United States. He has performed extensively in the United Kingdom appearing in concerti, solo recitals and chamber music concerts at the Wigmore Hall, St. Martins in the Fieldand St. John’s Smith Squareand festivals throughout Britain. He has also appeared in major European Festivals including the BBC Proms, Menuhin Festival, Munich Biennale, Hanover Expo, Paganiniana in Genoa, Venice Biennale, Instrumenta Festival Mexico, the Skopje Days of New Music, Cyprus International Contemporary Music Festival and the Istanbul Biennale. He has broadcast frequently for radio, including BBC Radio 3, BBC Scotland, Classic FM, Bavarian Radio, Swiss Classical Radio, ABC Australia, and WQXR New York.

Aaron Shorr has recorded for Naxos, Mettier, Olympia, NMCand Meridian. His recordings of Beethoven with duo partner, Peter Sheppard Skaerved, have won wide acclaim. Research on composers in Beethoven’s inner circle of friends and contemporaries has yielded modern recording premieres of works by Mayseder, Ries and Archduke Rudolph as well as unknown chamber version of Beethoven’s Third Symphony. He has also enjoyed close associations with composers and has given countless premieres and performances of works, including those by Hans Werner Henze, George Rochberg, Sadie Harrison, David Matthews, Paul Moravec, Elliott Schwartz, Jorg Widmann, Michael Alec Rose, Jeremy Dale Roberts, Judith Bingham, Rory Boyle, Marek Pasieczny,and Sidika Ozdil.

Aaron Shorr studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he received their most prestigious prizes for performance. His teachers have included Alexander Kelly, Solomon Mikowsky, Gary Graffman, André Watts, John Browningand chamber music with Joseph Seiger, former duo partner of legendary violinist Mischa Elman.

Aaron Shorr was a professor and researcher at the Royal Academy of Music in London since 1992 before going on head the keyboard department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2006. His students have gone on to win major prizes at international competitions including the Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, Tel Aviv, UNISA, Pretoria, Rio, Brazil, Munich, St. Petersburg, Tokyo, Vines – Spain, Piano Campus – Paris, Redding-Piette and the Schubert Competition in the Czech Republic. His students have also won prizes in major UK competitions, including the Royal Overseas League, Brandt, Bromsgrove, Park Lane Debut Series and the Moray Piano Competition. In 2011, he became Artistic director and Chair of the Jury for The Scottish International Piano Competition.

In 2006, Aaron Shorr was appointed Head of Keyboard at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2013, he was awarded a Professorship from the RCS and from 2013-2015, also served as Director of Music at the RCS.

South Korean-born pianist Sinae Lee leads a busy life as a soloist, chamber musician and lecturer at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Glasgow, UK. Since her UK début with Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), playing Brahms Piano Concerto No.1, she has also played with Korean Symphony Orchestra, St. James Orchestra, Glasgow Orchestral Society as well as RCS Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. She has frequently appeared in concerts in New York, St. Petersburg, Riga, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as cities in her native Korea such as Seoul, Suwon and Busan.

In Korea, she studied piano at Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School. While studying in Seoul, she won many prestigious prizes, such as the Chung-Ang Daily Newspaper competition, and the Korean Music Association for Overseas competitors. After graduating Seoul National University with Distinction, Sinae was offered a place to study at RCS with a full scholarship awarded by the Inches Carr Trust, obtaining her MMus with Distinction one year later. Her prizewinning career continued in UK where she won the London Intercollegiate Beethoven competition as well as numerous RCS Prizes including A.Ramsay-Calder Debussy Prize, Bach Prize, Governors’ Recital Prize, Concerto Competition Prize, Ian D.Watt Award and the Dunbar-Geber Prize. Sinae studied piano with Hwa-Young Yi, Hyoung-Joon Chang in Korea, and Philip Jenkins in UK.

In 2006, Sinae recorded Karol Szymanowski’s complete piano works on four CDs, released by Divine Art Record Company. These recordings marked the first complete CD set, including the posthumously published Prelude in C sharp minor. This marked her début recording and received highly acclaimed reviews from Gramophone (Recommended Recording), BBC Music Magazine (Benchmark Recording), MusicWeb International (Recording of the Month, November 2006), Pianist Magazine (Recommended Recording), All Music Guide (Classical Editors’ Best of the Year2007) and Res Musica. Some of the pieces from her Szymanowski CDs have been broadcasted on BBC Radio 3, Radio New Zealand and Busan KBS TV. To celebrate 10 years anniversary of her Szymanowski CDs release, Sinae gave Szymanowski concert tours in Glasgow (RCS), Dublin (Royal Irish Academy of Music) and Seoul (Seoul National University and Dongduk Womens University) between October and December 2016. In 2011, Sinae performed the complete Années de Pèlerinage by Liszt in the UK and Korea, celebrating the composer’s 200th anniversary. A studio recording was released by Nimbus Alliance in July 2012 and received rave reviews from The Classical Reviewer (Best of 2012) and MusicWeb International (Recording of the Month, April 2014).

As a keen collaborator, Sinae has been enjoying performances with pianists Aaron Shorr, Fali Pavri, Graeme McNaught, Jonathan Plowright, Petras Geniušas, Saša Gerželj-Donaldson, Victor Sangiorgio and James Willshire as well as violinists Ilya Gringolts, Andrea Gajic, Gent Koço and late Justine Watts, violist Andrew Berridge, cellist Alison Wells and the double bassist Knut Erik Sundquist and Nikita Naumov. Sinae has also been in demand for giving world premieres for solo piano and ensemble works by living composers such as Marek Pasieczny, Gordon McPherson, Rory Boyle, Vera Stanojevic, Alasdair Spratt, Jay Capperauld, James Wilson, Richard Greer and Ewan Ferguson and many more. In July 2016, Sinae recorded an original composition by Jay Capperauld’s ‘Swan Lake’ for BBC Arts documentary film. Sinae is also a pianist for Glasgow New Music Expedition (GNME), a contemporary music ensemble led by Jessica Cottis.

Sinae’s past prize adjudications include Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition in Katowice, Poland, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, Eurovision Young Musicians Semi-Finals in Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Piano Scholarships at Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), BBC Young Musician of the Year at City Hall (Glasgow), Scottish International Youth Piano Competition, A Ramsay-Calder Debussy Prize, Walcer Prize, Peter Lindsay Miller Prize for Piano Duo, Beethoven Prize for Junior Conservatoire at RCS.

For further information on Sinae’s performing schedule and more, please visit http://www.sinaeleethepianist.com

Saša Gerželj-Donaldson: After beginning her studies at the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor in Slovenia, at the age of 16, Saša passed the piano performance entrance exam for University for Performing Art and Nusic Graz, where she took her BMus and MMus with Dr. Walter Kamper.  She then left for Canada to study for a fully-funded Artist Diploma with John Perry at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, where she met and was also tutored by Leon Fleisher.  Her studies were enriched by masterclasses with Pascal Rogé, Rudolph Kehrer, Marc Durand , Robert Mcdonald, Julian Martin, Evelyne Brancart and others.

While studying in Austria, she performed as a soloist with the Ensemble for New Music Graz, and went on to numerous international venues and festivals, including World Music Days, Ciclo de Primavera Boadilla del Monte Madrid, Lange Nacht der Musik Graz, International EPTA Luzern, Roy Thompson Hall Toronto, Rising Stars Toronto, Yamaha Canada Showcase ROM,  Festival Lent, Mozart Gala RCM Toronto, Rising Stars Toronto, Glasbeni September, National Hall Maribor – Orchestral Cycle, Studio 14 RTV Slovenia, Piano Marathon Rogaška, Minoriten Saal Graz, and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. She played Strauss’ Burleske, Op. 1 with the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra under Conrad von Alphen and SNG Maribor Orchestra, Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Scottish Sinfonia under Neil Mantle MBE and Schumann Piano Concerto with GCO. She has recorded for several radio stations: Radiotelevizija Slovenija, Österreichischer Rundfunk, Radio Nacional de España and the CBC Canada.

Saša’s awards include the Zois Scholarship Slovenian government programme for gifted students Slovenia (1994-2003), the Martha Debelli Prize for most prospective student of University for Music and performing arts Graz and the Ministerium für Kultur Austria Prize. Her study Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of music at the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto was funded by the Jun Fujimoto scholarship (2004, 2005) and the Margaret Phillips Award (2004, 2005).  She was also a prize winner at the Pianello Val Tidone International Piano Competition. In 2013 she received the Dr. Roman Klasinc Award from Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor– Slovenia for exceptional achievements in music.

Saša has taught at both the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Maribor and University for performing Arts and Music Graz.  She has conducted piano masterclasses and sat on the jury for national and international  piano competitions in throughout Europe. She is the artistic director of the Carinthian International Piano Competition and the PAMT Summer Academy for young pianists.

Her students have been successful on winning piano competitions international level.

She was also invited as piano judge for BBC Young Musician for Scotland which was a very joyous experience. 

Saša has been part of RCS keyboard staff since 2014 and is great admirer of Richard P. Feynman’s work and his way of teaching and learning. 

Isobel Anderson

Norman Beedie

Nicholas Ashton

Summer Accommodation

We are pleased to welcome students from across the world to our Summer Schools. Our course fees do not include accommodation or food, and these should be organised by the student. Our campus is located in Glasgow city centre, and you can find the addresses below.

We recommend Base Glasgow, as purpose-built accommodation for Conservatoire students, with Rehearsal Rooms, Practice spaces and Dance Studios. Base Glasgow is perfectly suited for our summer school students; both safe and secure, with 24/7 staff presence and only 3 mins walk from our main Renfrew Street building, keeping travel costs to a minimum.

Classic En-Suite rooms come with a 3/4 bed, en-suite bathroom, ample storage, mirror, study desk and chair. The shared area includes a spacious lounge and kitchen area.

Please note that Short Courses staff are not affiliated with BASE or on site outwith the summer school teaching hours, and therefore cannot take responsibility for students outside of these hours.

For more information about booking accommodation at BASE Glasgow you can contact them directly via website BASE – Student Accommodation in Glasgow or email baseglasgow@herestudents.com.

Alternatively, there are plenty of hotels, hostels, and b’n’b options available. We are located close to transport links should you wish to stay outside the city centre. If you are travelling to Glasgow for a course, we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance that covers course fees, travel, accommodation, and cancellations due to COVID-19 – as RCS will not refund in this circumstance. You can view the Cancellations and Refund policy for full information.

For students under 18 years old, we strongly advise travelling with a responsible adult should any emergency situations arise during class. Students are only monitored by staff during class times.

Renfrew Street Campus: 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3DB
Wallace Studios Campus: 210 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G4 9RR