About
I’ve never forgotten the first note I ever played on a piano.
It must have been at a friend’s house when I was about 3 or 4 years old and it proved to be an indelible experience: the magic of pressing a key and producing this wonderful vibrant sound has stayed with me all my life.
I insisted on having piano lessons, but it was some years before I could begin because my family didn’t own a piano and I had to wait until I was 8 when my mother gave in to my requests and bought one from the milkman for £10! Music became a vital part of my life, but it wasn’t until I was about to leave school that I realised I wanted it to be my career.
Having taught in a school for many years, adults are now the main focus of my teaching. It’s so common for adults to express regret at not having had the opportunity to learn as children, or that they gave up, that I feel it’s really important to create opportunities for them to make music. I have taught in a workplace setting for the last eight years and this has proved highly popular. Learning and playing at any level – beginner to advanced, formal or informal – supports wellbeing and new, creative ways of thinking.
This is why I continue to be passionate about music-making: playing, teaching and researching into music-making and wellbeing. I tirelessly encourage others to take it up, to re-start, and keep playing, in whatever way works for their lifestyle and needs.
I continue to play for my own wellbeing – I know I can’t manage without it. It was good enough for Einstein – according to his wife he used to “rest his mind” when he got tired while working by playing his violin.
“Taking the jump back into piano lessons, after a lapse of at least 25 years, it soon became apparent that Charlotte was both an extremely good teacher and musical coach. There was something much more holistic about her approach to our lessons than I remember from my school days - it wasn't simply an exercise in correcting and improving technique. She encouraged better understanding of the music itself, as well as reflection on what I wanted to get out of the process.”
Matthew Sargaison, CEO, Man AHL
My experience
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My initial studies were with Ruth Gerald at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. During this time I won two scholarships, specialised in collaborative pianism and gained diplomas in piano and singing teaching. I then moved to London and enrolled for a BMus at Goldsmith’s College, University of London.
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Some years later I completed a Postgraduate Diploma at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama where I learned improvisation techniques for use in community music projects, recognising the value of music as a tool for teambuilding and encouraging creativity. For five years I led weekly music workshops at the Ace of Clubs, a drop-in centre for homeless and vulnerable people in Clapham, making music in a relaxed context which recognised its potential as a resource for sharing and healing.
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I have a passion for teaching and enabling others to share the joy of music-making. I was a Visiting Music Teacher at Alleyn’s School, Dulwich for 25 years and since 2015 have taught at Man Group plc, a firm of investment managers in London, where provision of a well-appointed music room gives employees the chance to recharge during the working day by having a lesson or practising the piano or guitar. This entails a very different “non-school” approach to teaching.
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I have given regular recitals in London churches as both soloist and accompanist, and have enjoyed playing piano trios informally with friends for many years. I am the pianist for the London CoMA (Contemporary Music for all) ensemble. (coma.org)
A project close to my heart is “London Pictures: London Pieces” – a recital combining piano music with projected images of lithographs by my great grandfather, T R Way, and James McNeill Whistler, with whom he worked closely as assistant and printer of lithography.
These feature scenes of London in the late 1800s. I have given this recital in a number of venues, including St Mary’s, Primrose Hill, where my great-grandfather lived.
Performance Review
“Thank you so much for your excellent playing in 'Red Planet'.”
Gregory Rose, composer. -
I recently completed an MSc in Performance Science at the Centre for Performance Science (a partnership between the Royal College of Music and Imperial College, London). My dissertation investigated the impact of having access to music-making and learning in a workplace context on subjective well-being, stress and creativity.
In September 2023 I will be returning to the RCM to begin a PhD which will explore this subject in greater breadth and depth.