BACKSTAGE WITH…
You have been involved in the London Piano Festival since it began three years ago. Do you aim to have specific themes each year?
We try not to be too specific but we do have little threads running through our programmes. We have three pieces by Debussy this year, because 2018 marks his centenary. Last year it was the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, so Elena Langer composed a piece based on a painting from the Russian Revolution exhibition at the Royal Academy.
You feature a lot of music for two pianos, specifically the two-piano marathon. Is this repertoire performed much?
No! There's so much great repertoire for two pianos which is hardly ever played. It was one of our initial focuses when we created the festival, because being a pianist is quite a lonely life and we usually only tend to play with string or wind players. It's nice to not feel any competition and instead enhance each other’s playing. It’s a great opportunity to bring pianists together and play music they wouldn’t necessarily come across.
What are your plans for the future of the festival?
The festival has already grown from two days to five, and we’d like ideally to have it over an entire week. We’re also keen to showcase pianists who don’t often perform in the UK. We’ve always commissioned new works and will continue to do so – Jonathan Dove will be writing a piece for two pianos for next year’s festival, as we want to expand the two-piano repertoire.