This elective course provides opportunities for pianists to engage in collaborative playing with other pianists, including 4-hands/1 piano, 4-hands/2 pianos, and 8 hands/2 pianos. It aims to foster an appreciation and passion for piano ensemble repertoire, develop individual and ensemble pianistic skills through discipline and teamwork, and nurture the confidence to perform in a concert setting.
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Hard to get into this module, there is an audition in the first 2 weeks where you are required to play a piano piece to assess your capabilities. I think everyone in that mod had at least a grade 7 in piano (this seems to be the bare minimum) and had experience in a piano ensemble before. From then on, we were split into small groups of 2 where each pair learnt a piano duo/duet throughout the sem. We also had the freedom to choose our own partners and pieces so that is a bonus, best if you do this module together with a friend who is also musically-inclined. I played Danse Macabre by Saint Saens, a classic piano duo piece which is repeated every year (I think). I remember there were 2 guys who were paired by the prof and had their piece chosen by her, and she chose a super romantic piece composed by Chopin for the both of them, which was super funny because those 2 were not the type to have any romantic personality at all haha. The prof is very approachable and patient with her guidance, giving regular feedback along the way and some may recognize her because she is the instructor for RI piano ensemble too. The best part of this mod is that there is a live concert at the end of the semester! For the class to showcase their completed masterpieces, though I heard its been changed to online concerts recently because of the pandemic. So because of this there is definitely pressure to stay behind and practice till the pieces are perfect; me and my partner stayed back till 9pm on days just to practice so yea it was tiring but fun at the same time. You will face your duo partner so often that y’ all will become quite close, I heard of duo partners from other batches who eventually become real life partners :’) Honestly this module feels more homely than other modules, it felt more like a CCA than a mod and I think Prof also wants to see everyone do well and is therefore very generous with her grades, with most of the class scoring A- and above. Definitely miss this module the most, even other music modules I took could not compare to this mod.
August 22, 2021
