Bradley Evans, a highly experienced piano teacher and AMEB examiner from Sydney, recently visited NECOM. Twelve students and several local piano teachers attended two workshops with Bradley, held on Sunday 23 June. The first workshop covered repertoire from Preliminary to Grade 4, the second focussed on Grade 5 and above.
Students presented a wide variety of pieces, from Mozart and Beethoven Sonata movements, to Preludes by Debussy and Scriabin. Bradley’s feedback was both warmly supportive and musically insightful. It was fascinating to watch him work with a range of different students, adapting his teaching style to their specific needs and personalities. Bradley also shared some valuable tips for teachers on how to prepare students for AMEB exams.
As Bradley was travelling en route to Inverell (he was this year’s piano adjudicator for the Inverell Eisteddfod), he returned on Wednesday, 26 June to have dinner with NECOM Educator Members and staff. This was a very enjoyable opportunity to bring together several of our local piano teachers, and many ideas for future keyboard events were enthusiastically discussed.
Sheila Guymer