4 posts published by Melanie Spanswick during September 2025| melaniespanswick.com
Pianist, composer and teacher Alison Mathews is the brainchild behind this innovative concept. I was delighted to be asked to contribute a short piano piece to the book which sits alongside works by such renowned educational composers as Pam Wedgewood, Chris Norton, Wynn-Anne Rossi, and Elissa Milne. Alison was inspired by a film that she... Read More|
UK-based Marcel Zidani is a concert pianist, teacher, and composer. He runs a large Facebook group called Adult Piano Beginners (click here to join) which currently hosts over 44,000 members, and it was this group that proved the original inspiration for my own Facebook group, Adult Piano Returners (click here to join). Marcel is also... Read More|
Today’s post continues the Piano Pedagogy Series with Part 2 of four interviews featuring Chinese concert pianist and teacher Chenyin Li. In this post, we discuss Chenyin’s advanced stu…| melaniespanswick.com
Schott Student Edition Elementary Level The Schott Student Edition is a series of study aids for those with the desire to discover new repertoire. Each volume focuses on music by one composer and t…| melaniespanswick.com
4 posts published by Melanie Spanswick during March 2025| melaniespanswick.com
4 posts published by Melanie Spanswick during February 2022| melaniespanswick.com
Over the summer, I had the good fortune to adjudicate at an up-and-coming music festival and competition in London held at the Royal Academy of Music (pictured above). The Opus One Summer Music Festival concluded its second edition this year, further establishing itself as an international platform for young musicians. The week-long programme running in... Read More|
I’m continuing the popular ‘Piano Pedagogy Series’ on my blog today featuring the first of four substantial interviews with Chinese concert pianist and teacher Chenyin Li. Chenyin…| melaniespanswick.com
The Occult I wrote Ghostly Piano Tales nearly two years ago after becoming increasingly fascinated by the stories behind ghostly legends. I’ve always been interested in the occult, having exp…| melaniespanswick.com
Today’s post is a ‘round-up’ of my work over the past couple of months. Book projects are coming to an end for this current year. I have two more to be published before 2026. The first is a beginne…| melaniespanswick.com
The last few months have been all-consuming, what with the usual end-of-term workload, but when it was finally over, I decided to take an early summer holiday to recharge and revisit old haunts. Over thirty years ago, I visited Hungary to do some research for what I thought was to be my Master’s degree project... Read More|
Pianist Magazine publishes several ‘extra issues’ per year and the latest one is out today. I’m writing a little about it as I recently proofread most of the articles: I’ve …| melaniespanswick.com
The following 55-minute interview was filmed in 2021 in Hamburg, Germany, to celebrate Martha Argerich’s 80th Anniversary, but it was published more recently by Paramax Films and produced by …| melaniespanswick.com
This month’s Pianist Magazine newsletter article focuses on recording your piano playing. What with most examination boards now offering a video ‘recorded’ option or a digital exam, usually known as a ‘Performance’ exam, it seems that this way of presenting piano playing is becoming increasingly popular. When preparing to record any programme, knowing how to... Read More|
I’m delighted to introduce my three-book piano series: Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano (Schott Music). This series was published in February/March 2022 and was one of my lockdown pro…| melaniespanswick.com
This week marks the publication of my second volume highlighting the music of French late-Romantic composer Mélanie Bonis, or Mel-Bonis as she was often known. Book 1 was published in March and foc…| melaniespanswick.com
I’ve been compiling and editing editions for the Schott student study series for a while and we have already published three volumes: click here to find out more. All my contributions to this serie…| melaniespanswick.com
I’m continuing my series of interviews focusing on piano pedagogy featuring professors and faculty members of universities and music conservatoires around the world. This week’s guest w…| melaniespanswick.com
PIANO PEDAGOGY SPOTLIGHT A collection of interviews with piano professors and faculty members. Click the text beneath each image to read the articles.| melaniespanswick.com
The piano is an intoxicating instrument. Those who have played in their youth often harbour a desire to return to it later in life. Piano ‘returners’ make up an increasingly large cohor…| melaniespanswick.com
BOOKS BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS Melanie has authored 28 publications. These include piano textbooks, several piano series, anthologies, piano examination syllabuses, and original compositions. Her b…| melaniespanswick.com