University News Last updated 07 April
Get to know who is driving Royal 探花直播 Conservatoire, in this regular feature, Meet the RBC leadership team.
Prior to joining RBC, Head of Keyboard Studies Professor of Music John Thwaites worked at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. His students, past and present, are some of the finest young pianists in the world today, winning many major international prizes for their talents. One of his highlights is a 12-hour concert where his students played the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas.
What are the core skills or areas of expertise that you bring to RBC?聽
I am a concert pianist who has 40聽years of teaching experience in state schools,聽state music schools, public schools, specialist music schools and聽conservatoire junior departments. For the ten years prior to聽my appointment at RBC, I worked at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.聽
What have been your highlights since you started at RBC?聽
Our students have included some of the finest young pianists in the world today. They have won first prizes in significant international competitions. Emanuil Ivanoc won the聽Busoni International Piano Competition and Roman Kosyakov won聽the Hastings International Concerto Competition. Roman has settled in 探花直播 now and teaches at the聽Junior Conservatoire. Seven students have made debut CD recordings for Naxos, which are available on Spotify.
Another highlight was when the BBC broadcast a live concert from the Bradshaw Hall, which was a Vice-Chancellor's Gala Evening Recital by four of our piano students. Another is when聽32 students played the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas in a 12-hour concert, and a previous 12-hour concert ran through the night, in聽a hugely memorable All-Night Gala at 探花直播 Town Hall. 聽
Putting together major Festivals is always thrilling. The latest was in February 2024, which was a symposium on 19th聽Century Piano-Playing Styles. When the greatest pianists come in to teach, we all learn from them: Andrei Gavrilov, Robert Levin, Kirill Gerstein聽and many more. I have also hugely enjoyed my place among聽those colleagues who contribute to Practice-based Research, most recently focusing on Brahms鈥檚 Chamber Music.聽聽
What have been the most challenging issues that you鈥檝e had to discuss and take a view on so far?聽
As a Patron of the European Piano Teachers鈥� Association, I am campaigning to have at least one acoustic piano in every state school, an ambition endorsed by the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM). RBC has navigated its role within an ever-changing landscape with great skill, requiring meaningful change from us all.聽
What are your ambitions for RBC?聽
I would like to keep a love for music and the joy of playing music聽at the heart of everything we do.聽
What do you to outside of the role when you are not working?聽
I read and walk a little, but as my school advised me long ago, music is not a career, it聽is a life and a vocation. Having spent so much of my life with fellow musicians, I have found them to be among the noblest of God鈥檚 creatures, and knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects.聽