Thanks to the generosity of sponsor Sir Harvey McGrath, concert pianist Richard Meyrick has been visiting schools throughout the UK with his inimitable and inspiring piano masterclasses and workshops for the last 15 years (around 600 visits so far). There are scholarships and opportunities on offer for those students who show outstanding potential. As a result, dozens of promising young pianists across the country have gone on to take up free, all expenses paid scholarships including consultations in London and residential courses nationwide, playing chamber music and concertos with professional musicians.

We are delighted that Richard will be visiting our school on December 16th! During the workshop, Richard will work with up to six pianists in KS4 and KS5 in front of an audience of other musically-minded students. Each of the 6 GCSE and A Level participants will bring along an item of piano music they would like to work on, and Richard’s aim is to broaden the thinking of these young musicians. He will give them new perspectives, techniques and goals for the preparation and presentation of their pieces. As part of the Masterclass, Richard himself plays one or two works, carefully chosen to inspire and enthral.

The six students taking part in the workshop, and therefore performing to Richard on the 16th, have been selected from our GCSE and A Level classes. However we still have 20 places available in the audience for motivated young pianists in the younger years. Please email Miss Brown at [email protected] if you would like to be in the audience. Any pianist or student with an interest will be welcome but we can only have a maximum of 20 in the audience. We will offer places in the audience on a first come, first served basis.Following the workshop and performance from Richard, we will be holding a short and informal concert for anyone in our audience who would like to perform to the group. This will commence at 1:20pm to the end of lunch. Students will be able to collect lunch from the restaurant and bring to the music department to eat during the concert. Those with a packed lunch will be able to have their lunch during the concert.