SECTION ONE: STARTING OUT

1.What inspired you to start?

Luckily my parents played classical LPs in our Dundee flat from the moment I was born (6 Jan 1965). One of their earliest recollections of me is as a ‘terrible two year old, bouncing manically’ on my bed in time to Sullivan’s ‘The Gondoliers’. My father promptly assumed that I was destined for a career as an Olympian gymnastic candidate! But apparently by the time I was three I had already wrecked the gramophone player by roughly and crudely trying to play LPs myself, rather than waiting for more experienced hands to turn on the machine!

My mother was also quite a natural sight reader and enjoyed playing the piano for fun. As a young child I adored the way she would enliven comparatively easy arrangements by adding her own extra ‘double octave’ left hand notes, not to mention the liberal, generous doses of sustaining pedal! Much more interesting than the Spartan, economical notes on her printed copies! ‘Tango for two guitars’, Ross Conway, ‘Bewitched’, ‘Stranger on the Shore’, ‘Sleigh bells’ ‘Black and White Rag’… all very intriguing stuff for a pre-schooler such as yours truly.

In the months prior to my birth my mother even re-commenced piano lessons for a brief period (they had been abruptly stopped when she was thirteen and had to go to senior school), so, with more than a dab of irony, I can truthfully state that I had my first piano lessons -on Grade 4 exam pieces- whilst still in my mother’s womb!

But in direct response to the question, it was just always assumed as a matter of course that I would learn to play the piano, but ‘not until you can read’. This was regarded as important by both my parents. However, I am now not so sure, and indeed I have been teaching my three year old son Matthew to play over the past few weeks, and he is far from secure in his grasp of the English language, to say the least. But we are making great headway already. At the risk of going way off the point, it is worth mentioning that too much piano teaching in the past has been concerned with the challenges of notation as opposed to the exploration of sonority.

2.What was your early musical training like?

I attended a local state primary school in Aberdeen called ‘Ferryhill Primary School’, and the service of one thirty minute lesson per week was offered for the seven year olds and upwards. I had a charming lady called Miss Sabestan ( I think that was how she spelt her name). She originally hailed from the Outer Hebrides, I seem to recall, and though on first meeting me she apparently thought that I was ‘far too shy to even lift his fingers onto the keyboard’, progress was swift. There was no time for theory or even aural training at this stage, but luckily I spent a lot of my time at home just picking up my mother’s old music, and this was to do me a lot of good. For personal reasons, the kind Miss Sabestan had to leave, and I had to continue sight reading for a number of months on my own until another teacher arrived. This proved unsuccessful and frustrating, leading to private lessons with a remarkable lady called Mary Alexander from late January 1975 through to June 1978. She subsequently became a really good friend and confidant until her death in 1990 at 79. Mary was not really a pianist, but she was a remarkable campaigner for Pensioner’s rights, all sorts of causes, had worked in the Civil service, and had found a lot of success as a singer. She had around 100 private piano pupils at one stage of her ‘retirement’ and was a firm believer in a really sound knowledge of theory of music. Indeed theory was a passion, and most of her pupils received 100 per cent or thereabouts in the Trinity College examinations (Grades 1-5 inclusive mainly). I admired her passionate evangelical zeal over justice and indeed over practical, rather than intellectually abstract, left wing issues. Musically she steered me through Grade after Grade. I have to confess that I was fairly ‘naughty’ as a pupil, preferring to sight read all sorts of things rather than practice for lessons. I do not know if she realised just how little was actually done. But I certainly ‘won’ my fair share of exhibitions for highest marks in Trinity Examinations. Interestingly enough, I am told that Martin Roscoe also did rather well in his Trinity Grade Examinations……… Fortunately Miss Alexander was not a pedant, and it only took around ten minutes of impassioned persuasion from yours truly each year for her to allow me to skip the odd grade here and there. No way did I want to be bogged down in that sort of methodology for eight years!

But I have to say that I did not consider myself primarily a pianist until much later on when I was a pupil at Chetham’s. Indeed I went to Chetham’s in 1979 as a first study guitarist and second study clarinettist, having achieved Grade 8 passes with honours/distinction in all three instruments, won prizes for guitar and piano grade 8, performed the Vivaldi D major Guitar concerto, won the trophy at 13 - again as a guitarist- for the best instrumentalist in the 1978 Aberdeen and North East of Scotland Music Festival (James Gibb was quoted in the press as saying I was a ‘remarkable Young Artiste’ after I played Villa Lobos, Guliani and Dowland in a small recital against others who had gained places at London Music Conservatoires, etc). By ten there were over 100 ‘compositions’ which I had written out. Many of these still exist, including a ‘Garden Suite’ for my father’s birthday (April 1974). All harmless stuff, but it did at least instil a sense of harmony, structure, it was good fun, and by then I had discovered that I was lucky (or unlucky?) enough to have perfect pitch.

So the piano took its place in a broad musical education. I could mention the composer Shaun Dillon who taught me Clarinet and who helped with all those ‘compositions’. He also lent loads of recordings, and provided hours of stimulating conversation. I could mention my guitar teachers Alistair Reid and David Allan, as well as a well-meaning Head of Music Neil Meldrum, a good natured Music Advisor Donald Hawksworth and all the happy Saturday mornings spent in Concert Bands as a clarinettist, moving on to the Harlaw Academy (my comprehensive school) Orchestra, and finally, as a clarinettist, the Aberdeen Music Centre Senior Orchestra. Evelyn Glennie had a very similar upbringing musically in her early years apparently, and we even played in the same local concert when she was on timpani in the percussion section whilst I played my first ever concerto ; Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini with the Grampian Schools’s symphony Orchestra in July 1981 in the Music Hall Aberdeen.

But the Rachmaninov concerto was later. Before then I had a year with the excellent Robert Howie for more serious piano study at 13. Bob jam-packed a year of study with an enormous amount of repertoire (Beethoven op.10 no.3, op.14 no.1, op.2 no.1, Chopin Polonaise, Nocturne, Waltz, Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso, Mozart 19th Concerto, Bach Preludes and Fugues, Czerny, Chopin Etudes, York Bowen, John Ireland, etc,etc Quite a list!

Anyway, by Autumn 1978 the need was felt to develop musically away from North East Scotland. This had been encouraged by the violin teacher Warren Jacobs (a festival adjudicator who had also been very encouraging about the guitarist Murray McLachlan). Incidentally, another festival adjudicator from 1978 who was extremely positive about my guitar performing was the composer John McLeod, someone whom I would later work closely with on many pianistic projects, including the world premiere of his Third Piano Sonata, dedicated to me.

Despite the inevitable reservations about leaving home for a boarding school in Manchester (and for an only child, 358 miles away from home is no mean proposition) at the time I was determined to journey somewhere that could expand and develop my musical education. Auditioning on all three instruments in May 1979 led to me beginning education at ‘Chet’s’ in the September of that year. After much discussion with my parents and the Director of Music at Chetham’s at that time, Michael Brewer, it was felt that the piano was best ‘stopped’ for the moment as it would be too difficult to continue with it and the guitar. The clarinet was seen as less of a conflict. But as things turned out, I still continued to play the piano for ‘fun’ when no-one was looking at school. By a stroke of amazing luck a wonderful piano teacher called David Hartigan heard me playing over Debussy Pour Le Piano, Beethoven op.10 no.3 and Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso. On discovering that I did not have a teacher, he stuck his neck out, got into quite a lot of trouble at the time (for which I am eternally grateful!) and ended up teaching me second study piano from Jan 1980 through to the end of my schooling in Manchester in July 1983. I enjoyed my guitar lessons with Gordon Crosskey a lot, as well as the many inspiring sessions with Neil Smith, a wonderful performer as well as a brilliant tutor of guitar. And the sessions of one term only with Graham Turner from the Halle were fantastic, even though my heart was never really in the clarinet. Ultimately I found that my nails were not strong enough to be able to make the grade as a guitarist, and of course there were terrible conflicts between guitar and piano (hence the reason for not starting Chetham’s with both on board). Under David Hartigan’s inspired guidance, the piano became more and more important. Things came to a head in October 1981 when I entered the BBC Young Musician of the Year as both a guitarist and pianist. I was eliminated quickly on the guitar, but progressed as winner of the Scotland/Northern Ireland final on the piano. That more or less settled it- not because of the competition itself, but merely because it was to take far too long preparing for the remainder of the competition on the piano to have any time left for the guitar.

3. Where did you study and who with?

David Hartigan at Chetham’s was an enormous influence. His tragic sudden death at the age of 50 in 1996 was a great loss for piano teaching in Manchester. He was relatively unknown as a teacher when I first started out with him, officially ‘second study’ but unofficially receiving many, many extra hours. A wonderful source of inspiration, and also a real builder of organising techniques and mechanical know-how around the keyboard. David also built up co-ordination, memorisation, stamina, energy, determination and many ‘nuts and bolts’ issues that have to be addressed. After Chetham’s I felt the need for a complete change and at Cambridge University, where I read music, I also journeyed for private lessons from David’s teacher Professor Ryszard Bakst (1926-1999) the Chopin specialist and indeed former prize-winner at the Chopin competition in Warsaw. I remember many wonderful insights into phrasing, poetry at the piano, rhythm, fidelity to the text. Indeed Bakst expected lucidity and clarity in everything that was presented to him by his students. Subsequently I was privileged to study for four years with the distinguished British Pianist Peter Katin, a wonderful teacher who had so much to say with regard to technique, arm weight, as well as musically. To study with someone who has had so much experience of performing the great concertos and recital repertoire is very precious. Norma Fisher was also a tremendous help, with so much inspiring help on all levels, particularly with regard to sound, approach, organic playing, projection, creativity. Finally Ronald Stevenson has been incredibly generous over the years. His words of wisdom have stood the test of time, and I still remember very clearly ‘lessons’ on Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Bach-Busoni and basic technique which took place as far back as April 1983. He most certainly has been a decisive influence, possibly the strongest. All sessions with Ronald took place at his home in West Linton, Scotland, and most of them were informal.

4. Did you take the competition route?

Certainly the ‘successes’ which I have had in competitions on a national level have led directly to many opportunities, but no, I did not even enter the Leeds, Tchaikovsky or Chopin competitions! I am not sure that I am even aware of a ‘route’ that I have taken ,other than that of performing, being fortunate enough to find audiences who enjoyed what they heard, and being asked as a result to perform again. Ultimately this is what builds a musician’s reputation, and it is this that counts for more than anything else.

5. How do you feel about the competition route?

By all means enter competitions, but do build up a reservoir of strength alongside them. To be an artist you need to be very strong and sensitive at the same time. Alongside the competition circuit time has to be spent building up concert experience, a repertoire and so on. There is a danger of becoming obsessively bogged down with competitions in some cases, and this could if not watched could lead to the ‘perpetual student’ situation, which is of course ultimately destructive. There is certainly a danger of low self esteem if success in a materialistic sense does not come along in competitions. This is a great shame, as all talent, no matter how big or small, is very precious and should be encouraged and nurtured in a caring way. Ultimately, competitions are either positive or negative depending on an individual’s attitude and state of mind.

6. Did you put on your own concerts? (self funded)

I cannot remember ever having done so. Perhaps it is the canny Scot in me, or perhaps I have just been incredibly fortunate, but this is not something I have ever thought of developing. At least in this country there are still numerous societies who are willing to promote young artists. From what I hear on the grape-vine from over-seas students, self-funding is very much the norm in countries like Latvia. It really can be a very difficult profession for young artists to start in.

7 .Did you ever think you'd have to, or ever want to give up playing?

As I said, I did ‘give up’ on the piano when I thought I may end up as a kind of tartan Julian Bream/Segovia back in the late seventies, but since then, no, absolutely never! Perhaps your questions imply that you, Joe, have too much of a capitalistic, Americanised business slant on music? I certainly hope not, and would be delighted to try and ‘convert’ you if this is the case!!! I prefer to be more ‘organic’ in the sense that today playing piano is as basic to my existence on earth as eating, sleeping and breathing, (indeed that reminds me of a really embarrassing piece which reached the front page of the local Aberdeen newspaper, ‘The Press and Journal’, back in 1978 when Mary Alexander was quoted as saying ‘Murray sleeps, eats and breathes music’.

Perhaps teachers need to argue more strongly the importance of spiritual and non materialistic riches that come from life as a musician. Sure, 99 per cent of pianists are grossly underpaid, but I like to think that all true pianists are infinitely richer than unhappy businessmen who may earn five times more on average in terms of salary, but are at least that number of times more bored with their day to day rituals than the pianists are! Therefore, when properly educated, the real pianists on this earth could never begin to seriously think of ‘giving up’!

8. What is the purpose exactly of an agent? This has always seemed unclear to me.

There have been numerous, useful articles published, (including a very good one by the Incorporated Society of Musicians a few years back) explaining the ways in which managers/agents can be invaluable. When things begin to get really busy most artists find the necessity of an agent absolutely vital. But there is no point, in my view, of trying to create a career out of thin air for a young artist, and there are no substitutes for ‘building up a career from the inside’. By that I mean that the musician has important responsibilities to ensure that the quality of his prepared interpretations are such that his artistry will speak for itself, leading to the emergence of a reputation, return engagements, and the expansion of concert activity. When an artist already has a busy schedule, then an agent can come on board easily and help ease the strain in all sorts of marvellous ways.

9. Do you need an agent in order to be taken seriously?

At the risk of sounding repetitive, it is important to emphasise that it is the quality and authority with which an artist performs that will ensure that he is ‘taken seriously’, nothing else. Certainly there are many highly regarded musicians who do not feel the need for a conventional manager to help them.

10 .If you DO indeed need an agent, HOW do you get an agent?

Horses will inevitably find carts, but carts will never find horses! This may sound a bit flat, in which case I sincerely apologise, but it is important to understand that a musician’s priorities have to be musical.

11. If you choose to go it alone, HOW do you start?

IN a sense, every pianist has to constantly ‘go it alone’. I remember being impressed with your own playing, Jo, a number of years ago when I first heard you in music competitions at a junior level. I awarded you a number of prizes, I seem to recall, and that was a phase in the growth of your career. So you got ‘started’ a long time ago, and the same goes for every other conservatoire student in the country and elsewhere. Continue and develop!

LANDMARKS

12. How did you get your first concerto with a professional orchestra?

This month I have been extremely saddened and shocked by the sudden death of William Webb, former administrator of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. A most talented conductor and musician as well as a warm-hearted man. He heard my playing and engaged me for a NYOS tour with Prokofiev’s Third Concerto under the inspired baton of Christopher Adey. I was only eighteen, but had already played Rachmaninov with the Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra at the Halle Proms under the late Wilfred Boettcher. The press were very kind at the time, luckily (‘A pianist with a first class technique, and also taste’, Paul Dewhurst, Daily Telegraph, July 1983, after the Rachmaninov-Paganini, and ‘Murray McLachlan was soloist in Prokofiev’s Third Concerto, bringing to it brilliance, eloquence and power. We shall hear much more of this talented young musician, who is still in his late teens’, Malcom Rayment, Glasgow Herald, August 1983). But if you mean a professional orchestra proper, then I auditioned successfully in March 1987 for an engagement in the Netherlands, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto number two with the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra on national television. This performance was in fact broadcast throughout the continent in November 1987, and was a tremendous experience at the time. Other memorable early experiences included two performances of the Schumann concerto with the Royal Philharmonic under the late Australian conductor Stuart Challender (Cambridge Corn Exchange and Fairfield Halls, Croydon, both November 1987). Stuart was absolutely marvellous. I remember he had a really positive influence after our first meeting, one to one, in a practice studio. Perhaps understandably, I was feeling more than a little concerned about how I would perform with one of the world’s most famous bands. But Stuart simply told me to concentrate on singing through my fingers, let my imagination soar, and stop worrying about the technical challenges, as I had prepared the piece well.

Other happy early experiences included a really exciting tour, again with the Rachmaninov-Paganini variations and NYOS, but this time under the wonderful guidance of the late Sir Alexander Gibson. We sailed by Ferry and played in the Shetlands, Faroe Islands, Stavanger in Norway, and at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (August 1986). Incidentally, it is amazing the number of professional musicians who have performed in the Aberdeen Festival over the years; Sir Simon Rattle, for example, performed the solo piano part in Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and wind with the Glasgow Youth Orchestra there back in the early seventies!

I must also mention the magnificent conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk, with whom I enjoyed broadcasting both Prokofiev’s Third and Rachmaninov’s First Concertos with the BBC Scottish Symphony at an early stage too.

13. How did you get your proms debut?
14. Who paid for your Wigmore Hall debut? (and south bank, etc)
15. How did you gain an international reputation? How did you get the opportunity to play overseas?
16. How do you get to play in International Festivals (including Aldeburgh, Glasgow International Series, etc)]

Forgive me, Joe, if I collect all of these together and simply say I really cannot remember. With most concerts the telephone rings and you check your diary, practice, do the gig, and that is that! But from my answer to the last question ( number 12 on your list)I think you can see that there is a certain logical pattern about my early ‘development’, though in all honesty I do not think that I have had the time to notice this until just now! Basically it is that one project inevitably and logically will lead to another. Certainly I practised a lot- and still do so! No matter how busy you are with external activities and pressures, it is incredibly important to take the necessary time to really steep yourself in the dots on all those pages of scores you are engaged to interpret in front of audiences.

17. Are you associated with a certain area of repertoire?

One of the most marvellous things about being a pianist is the vast repertoire, and I have an insatiable appetite for music! There are obvious threads which have led to associations in my concert and recording career, the most obvious being the Russian, British, Busonian, Beethovenian and Brahmsian emphasis and projects over the years. But I’ve also played a lot of Charles Camilleri, a surprisingly large amount of Chopin, Liszt and also most of the standard concertos,

18. Are you happy to play ALL repertoire?

No. I do not think that an artist should perform in public music which he is not convinced by as a performer. Of course there is a difference between music I am happy to listen to but would prefer not to play, (there is no example of music I am happy to play but would hate to listen to!!!).

19. Do you prefer to play solo, or with other people either with orchestra ormore intimate ensembles?

I love it all! Intimate ensembles over the years has included collaborations with the saxophonist Tommy Smith, Piano Quintets with the Edinburgh String Quartet in particular, many piano trios, many duo recitals with violinists and cellists (Alexander Baillie and Timothy Gill spring to mind from the 1990s)and most recently a happy piano duet team-up with my wife Kathryn. We have already performed the Rite of Spring and recorded Charles Camilleri, and have a series of recitals in the diary for the summer of 2004.

RECORDING

20. How did you get into recording?

Olympia invited me to record a single disc of Myaskovsky on the very kind recommendation of Peter Katin after their managing director heard me perform the Schumann Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic in the Fairfield Halls, Croydon back in 1987. One disc led happily to success and the invitation to record another, then another, then a series. Now there are over 30 and rising!

21. How did you get a recording contract?

There has never been anything as rigid as a legal agreement!

22. Do you make any money from recording?

Yes I have been very, very fortunate indeed, and it is always a surprise to see discs you made many years ago still being re-issued and gaining some royalties.

23. Have you indeed LOST money from recording?

Again I can only say that fate has been kind. Or perhaps I have been too much of a ‘stick in the mud’ to ever hand over sums in order to record. Quite simply, I have never been involved with a recording project in which I paid to perform!

24. How do you feel that recording has changed since you first started, both technological advances and ways of marketing?

When I first started it was at the beginning of the compact disc era and there was a lot of money around, and a lot of optimism for the future. Things became much harder in the 1990s, with companies vanishing and a certain ‘saturation’ occurring in the market-place. Now we are in a strange transition, with the ‘downloading’ from PC’s still a largely unknown long-term threat to the industry. I am not sure what the future will bring.

TEACHING

25.At what point did you decide to be a teacher?

With both parents in the teaching profession, it is probably in my blood, and I have always wanted to have teaching in my life to an important extent.

26. How important is teaching to you as a musician - I mean, do you feel you grow more fully because you teach?

Without question this is the case! Every day in the teaching room is a day of learning for me. I really strongly believe this, and only have to reflect on the huge difference in my approach today from a couple of years ago. Pupils are colleagues more than anything else! And believe me, it teaching continues to be educational from every aspect of life as a person, not merely as a musician!

27. How do you feel about starting beginners?

Time is the difficulty, but if the circumstances are good, then I do not have anything specifically against it. Certainly I am enjoying teaching my own children from this level.

28. Do you feel it is harder to start someone from scratch or harder to take someone on who has been taught before?

If you view teaching as a learning experience,view challenges as something positive, then nothing in itself is ‘hard’. If you are teaching talented pupils, then it is a great pleasure to collaborate with them either at the beginning or during any stage of their particular musical journey. It is difficult only when people are not committed, do not love music passionately, or are not destined to spend hours and hours searching for sonorities at the keyboard.
PERSONAL LIFE (Not actually THAT personal dont worry)

29. How do you manage to balance your professional and personal life?

One compliments the other! Of course it is very, very busy, but everything about my existence on earth is wonderfully stimulating, and that is fantastic. My secret for balance and organisation is more of a theory than a scientifically proven fact: Everything will seem to fit into place when enthusiasm breeds energy in the individual to do the impossible.

30. Is this something you are at peace with or is it always a conflict of interest?

Apparent conflicts can often be blessings and resolutions in disguise. I feel happiest when I can laugh at myself, be very calm, get a good night’s sleep and remember how wonderful my life is!

31. Can you switch off totally from music when at home, or are you the type to be constantly mulling it over in your head?

Music is life. Why turn it off? There is usually music playing in my head as I go about every day tasks,and even as I write this I’m ‘listening’ internally to Borodin’s 2nd String Quartet (goodness knows why!). But it doesn’t feel stressful at all, in fact it is quite the reverse.

FINALLY

32. It seems mighty hard just now as a young musician at the start of my career. Does it EVER get easier??!!

My advice is not to think about music as a career, but rather as a way of life. Live music to the full and then it will be your greatest source of strength!