Piano Classes
Our piano and keyboard classes are designed for all ages and levels. Playing the piano is a wonderful way to enter in the fascinating and fulfilling world of music. Learning the Piano or Keyboard will develop your awareness of rhythm,coordination, listening and performance skills.
According to psychological researches, sounds, harmony and singing provide all-round training for the brain. A study done at the University of California at Irvine found that classical music in particular, strengthens the connections in the brain that are necessary for logical thinking.
Course Details:
► Weekly individual classes in your chosen instrument/voice with first class teachers. Each Term consists of ten individual 30 minute or 60 minute lessons depending on the intensity of the course chosen. Please note that there is a maximum of two students per class of similar level and age. All FMA Teachers are CRB Checked, highly qualified and with many years of experience in the UK. They maintain an attitude of constant encouragement and dedication to each and every student.
► Instrumental and Vocal Performance Classes in your chosen subject led by FMA Directors. The Performance Classes enable students to play the musical pieces they have learned with their teachers during the week to a small audience of students and parents. These Classes are very popular among students and parents because they give the former the opportunity to gain confidence, performance experience, listen to other students who have undertaken a different subject (instrument or voice) and thus enriching their musical horizons. During each Term, five Performance Classes take place in Room 1 every other Saturday and they are included in the Term fees. Even though the Performance Classes are optional, they are strongly recommended.
► FMA can prepare students for the Trinity Guildhall and ABRSM Grade Exams on their chosen instrument/voice, which offer internationally recognised Certificates and Diplomas. After students have achieved Grade 8, they can apply for a Performance Diploma or a BMus course.
► At the end of each Academic Year, FMA students receive Gold, Silver or Bronze End-of-year Certificates depending on the number of credits they have accumulated during the year. They will also receive Annual Reports monitoring their progress, level of practice and attendance.
► FMA can also prepare highly advanced and talented students for the Performance Diploma and the BMus Auditions.
► Methods and Materials: FMA offers a wide variety of teaching materials and methods adapted to the capacity and musical interests of each student. The tutors and Course Leaders always make sure that all students work on the best suitable method and material for them. Varied amount of homework will be given according to the level and age of each student.
► FMA provides aspiring musicians with professional Support and Advice on the music industry career, competitions, portfolios, sources for further development and music creation.
Music Instruments
Upon enrolment students and parents can get some advice from FMA Course Leaders and Directors on instrument purchase. FMA has a list of trusted music shops and instrument providers, which can be provided upon request. Please speak to a member of staff if you would like the Directors to chose and purchase an instrument for you for a small administrative fee. At the moment FMA does not offer instruments for hire but does offer practice rooms for limited times.
|  |
Piano Teachers Profiles
Christopher Pittas has studied at Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music for the Master's Degree and Advanced Postgraduate Diploma with scholarships from both colleges. Roger Vignoles has been his mentor and teacher along with Yonty Solomon, John Blakely and Eugene Asti. He has been working as an 'official Pianist' at Trinity College of Music for four years and been a member of Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service for three years. He has also been the Director of the First Musical Academy since September 2007.
Christopher has won numerous awards; he represented the Trinity College of Music in the Yamaha Competition 2005 at GSMD playing Pictures at an Exhibition in the Final.
He has also studied conducting with Patrick Bailey at the Royal College of Music and Andrew Morley at Trinity College of Music.
Christopher has made a recording for the Bulgarian National Radio, and given recitals at St.Martin's-in-the-Fields, East Finchley Arts Festival, Southwark Cathedral, The Pump Room, Sofia Music Weeks International Festival in Sofia and Maria Callas Auditorium in Athens.
Lydia Abastado has exemplary credentials which are wide reaching. She is a PGD and MMus in Performance Studies graduate from Trinity College of Music, London as well as more recently, a Moshe Greidinger fund scholar of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Israel.
Lydia studied the piano and theory, graduating with both a Distinction and 1 st Prize as well as engaged as a piano teacher from the Matsigos Conservatoire. In 1999 she was the Primary Musical and Theatre Trainer in the Greek-French School Adamantios-Kalamari. Lydia’s academic experiences comprise of piano and chamber music master classes taken by among others Domna Evnouhides, Bernard Ringeissen in Greece, Yonty Solomon, Deniz Arman Gelenbe, Christine Croshaw and Douglas Finch in London, as well as Ron Regev and Alexander Tamir in Jerusalem. She has also closely collaborated with living composers and during 2003 and 2004 gave much acclaimed lectures and recitals on works by Frederic Rzewski, Tōru Takemitsu, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Stephen Montague.
Lydia is a recipient of the Wilfred Stiff MMus Prize 2006, City Livery Club Prize 2006 and John Halford Prize 2005; she was marked with a distinction for her MMus Dissertation On the Revelation of Morton Feldman’s “Experience”: And Interpretation of Triadic Memories (1981) by the University of Sussex, UK. In 2005, Lydia achieved the highest mark in the keyboard faculty, performing for the Isabelle Bond Gold Medal Award.
Lydia has performed in Greece, Malta, Israel and extensively in London; she recorded Dani Joss’ “Liquid Photography” and the electro-acoustic “Shaper of Form” for prepared piano under the “Poeta Negra Records” label. Lydia prides herself on contributing to her generation’s distinctive reputation by exploring innovative ways of teaching and pioneering paths in the world of music.
Francesca Vanterpool
Biography to follow...
Tony Albert Biography to follow...
Allan Devolder Biography to follow...
Karen Luong
Biography to follow...
|
