Young Pianists' Summer Intensive Course

Daily Group classes + 1:1 coaching session (30 mins per participant) + Open Q&A group session with course tutors (for students + parents).

This course offers a fantastic opportunity for young pianists to spend an immersive week training in person with eminent RIAM Keyboard Faculty Tutors, bringing their piano playing to the next level and developing the skills every young pianist needs. 

Dr. Conor Linehan and Prof. Thérèse Fahy will work with students on their chosen piece(s) of repertoire, aiding participants in their approach to the music and giving guidance on practice methods and the elements of playing technique most relevant to them.

Group Classes Schedule (10 hours of group classes)

Mon - Fri:    11:15 AM   PRACTICAL PIANO PLAYING class (with Dr. C. Linehan)

                    12:30 PM   PERFORMANCE class (with Prof. T. Fahy)

1:1 Coaching session (1 x 30 min) with one of the two Course Tutors

In addition to the daily group lessons, each student is offered one 1:1 coaching session (30 min duration) on one of the course days, to privately work on individual challenges. 

1:1 coaching sessions will take place before and after the group lessons as follows:

AM: Mon - Thu:     (with Dr. C. Linehan)

• 9:30 - 10:00 AM
• 10:00 - 10:30 AM
• 10:30 - 11:00 AM 

PM: Mon - Thu:      (with Prof. T. Fahy) 

• 1:45 - 2:15 PM
• 2:15 - 2:45 PM
• 2:45 - 3:15 PM 

 (Note: Each participant will be able to indicate three preferences for a 1:1 coaching session. While trying to be as accommodating as possible RIAM reserves the right to allocate slots as necessary to evenly fill the schedule).

FRIDAY 11th of July (Venue: RIAM Vernon Studio)

Open group Q&A session for participants and parents (2:00 - 3:00 PM)

On Friday the 11th of July, before the concert, all course participants and their parents will have the opportunity to consult with the two tutors in an open Questions and Answer group session for some feedback on their performance and suggestions and advice on future development.

End of Course Concert (3:00 PM - ca. 5:00 PM) 

All course participants will have the opportunity to perform one of their chosen pieces in a concert setting for invited family members and friends. 

For any enquiries about this course, please contact shortcourses@riam.ie or call 01 632 5300.

About Prof. Thérèse Fahy and Dr. Conor Linehan

Thérèse Fahy, one of Ireland’s foremost pianists, enjoys an active performing and teaching career at home and abroad. Her regular recital and concerto appearances throughout Europe and the United States have met with critical acclaim, as have her numerous broadcasts for both RTÉ and BBC.

Recent engagements have included solo recitals, lecture-recitals and masterclasses in France, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, Portugal, USA, the Czech Republic, Holland, Israel, Ethiopia and Ireland, as well as serving on international juries including Dublin International Piano Competition, the Manchester International Concerto Competition in Great Britain, the Baltic International Piano Competition and the Scriabin International Piano Competition, Italy. As the only professional Irish pianist to specialise in the performance of French music, Thérèse Fahy has performed and internationally toured Debussy’s complete works for solo piano, and her performances of the solo works of Messiaen have been described by The Irish Times as a “tour de force”. In 2018, as well as bringing her Debussy Festival to Dublin and Paris, Thérèse was honoured to perform a solo recital at Debussy’s birthplace on March 25th, the exact centenary date of the composer’s death. In November 2019, the French Government bestowed on Thérèse Fahy the award of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

A Fulbright scholar and a French Government scholar, Thérèse Fahy is Professor of Piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Her students have been First Prizewinners and Finalists in many international competitions, including the Shanghai International Piano Competition, Hamamatsu International Piano Competition, EU International Piano Competition, the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona, the Beethoven Competition in Bonn, César Franck Competition in Brussels.

Dr. Conor Linehan is a pianist, composer and teacher based in Dublin.  He joined the piano faculty of the RIAM in 2008. A hugely versatile musician who works in a variety of art forms, he is comfortable within a wide range of styles and has performed a vast solo and concerto repertoire from baroque music to contemporary premiéres. He has also regularly taught modules in improvisation at the RIAM. He has been a regular soloist with Ireland’s major orchestras in repertoire by composers as eclectic as Igor Stravinsky, jazz composer Ronan Guilfoyle, traditional Irish composer Mícheál Ó’ Súilleabháin, rock band Radiohead and tango master Astor Piazzola.

Conor studied piano with Thérèse Fahy at the RIAM and, in London, with the renowned German teacher Peter Feuchtwanger. He holds a Doctorate in Music performance from Trinity College Dublin. His doctoral thesis explored orchestrations of French piano music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Conor’s students at the RIAM have been prize winners at the Dublin Feis Ceoil, the Henle Beethoven competition and the annual RIAM scholarships. He has also curated a graded syllabus of contemporary Irish piano music for the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin.Conor has been on the piano faculty of the RIAM since 2008.

Recent performances include a 2023 Irish Tour with renowned soprano Claudia Boyle and trumpeter Niall O’Sullivan as part of Music Network’s touring programme. They performed an eclectic programme ranging from Handel and Mozart to Kurt  Weill and Astor Piazzola. His recording of Mícheál Ó’Súilleabháin’s Oíche Nollaig, with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Gavin Maloney, was broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Christmas Eve, 2023. Conor also toured Ireland with the WhistleBlast Quartet, performing with them his own arrangement of Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka, for Piano, Violin, Clarinet and French Horn. Other appearances included a performance of Ronan Guilfoyle’s Suite Rath Crúachán for piano, clarinet and jazz guitar at the Hugh Lane Gallery Dublin (alongside a performance of Claude Debussy’s Estampes).

In tandem with his career as a pianist, Conor is a celebrated composer of music for the theatre and for the concert hall. His piano piece Intermezzo was the most widely performed commissioned piece at the 2018 Dublin International Piano Competition. His 2015 piece, Roadshow, was commissioned by the renowned British pianist Joanna MacGregor, for her tour of Ireland that year. He has also written pieces for Irish National Opera (The Patient Woman, 2020), Music Network (An Autumn Night’s Dream, for cello quartet, 2020) and The West Wicklow Festival (Diva, for violin and piano, 2023). His 2005 Concerto for Piano and Jazz Ensemble was performed by pianist Thérèse Fahy and the RIAM Jazz Ensemble in Dublin and Merkin Hall, New York.

Ability:

• There is no RIAM certification required for this course, but a minimum ability of Grade VI is necessary

Age:

• Participants have to be between 13-18 years of age (during the course time).