We know you are busy as a pianist, lecturer, composer, publisher and director of the Faber Piano Institute. Do you still have time to teach students?
I do have a small handful of students. But we also have exceptionally good faculty at the Institute, so I have people who can fill in for me when I’m on tour.
Is there a certain age or level of student you take at this point? Do you just teach advanced students?
I still teach all ages and I’m really committed to that. I want to see a spectrum of ages to keep monitoring what is individual about these different ages and how our materials are working for each. A varied spectrum of students keeps me more alert and able to do my job effectively.
We remember when you announced the grand opening of the Faber Piano Institute a few years ago. What is special about your Institute?
It’s a research base, really. We feel fortunate in that it’s a beautiful building. It’s a library building which we renovated for musical purposes. So the facilities are very, very comfortable. But fundamentally we’ve got children of all ages studying and playing and we can try out new methodologies with them. So it keeps us current and gives us a bigger pilot test base right in our hands. The other thing about the Institute is that it is a base for training international trainers. We’ve had numerous select teachers from overseas come study at the Institute. That has given us a base for Piano Adventures® certification programs going on in Asia.
You do so much. How do you get the energy? Are you super organized?
No, I think I could be more organized. Nancy and I both seem to have good energy and it seems to sustain. I think that’s good fortune. I wake up every morning very happy, very enthused, and very grateful I can do what I do. And really when I’m on stage speaking with teachers, the feedback I get back is just so rewarding. To be able to make a difference gives me all the energy to keep going.
What do you find most fulfilling about your work in the piano world?
I think it’s probably the leverage in that each teacher makes such a difference to so many students. So if I can have some impact on each teacher, whether it be through the writing of the materials of Piano Adventures®, or with lectures and performances, then there is a lever on that activity because I know it is amplified in that it can reach the lives of the students. That’s what’s most fulfilling for me.
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Check back next week for Part 2 of this interview when Randall tells us of several new Faber Piano Adventures publications on the horizon.