Who We Are
OUR AIMS AND HISTORY
The Beethoven Piano Society of Europe constitutes an international forum for professional and amateur pianists, teachers, musicologists and music lovers for the greater appreciation of Beethoven’s piano music in all its aspects. The Society’s primary aims are the promotion of the authentic interpretation of all of Beethoven’s music for or involving piano, orchestral, chamber or vocal genres, and the deeper awareness of his pianistic oeuvre as a whole.
Our activities concern the enrichment of performance, interpretation and reception, and include lecture-recitals, study days and masterclasses by international scholars and concert artists, concert series which offer a special platform to young artists of promise and established professionals, as well as competitions and concerts and publications.
The Beethoven Piano Society of Europe celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2013. The Society was launched at a Beethoven Day at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on 28 March 1993, with an initial steering committee of distinguished pianists and scholars, including the late Kendall Taylor CBE, Peter Feuchtwanger, Carola Grindea and J. Audrey Ellison, Professor Malcolm Troup, Alberto Portugheis and Malcolm Miller.
ACTIVITIES
A variety of events are organised by the Society to encourage the highest standards of interpretation and scholarship. Among them are:
- An Annual Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition for the Beethoven Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. The Senior Competition takes places in November/December, and the Junior Competition each Spring.
- An Annual Summer Festival, Oxford Street, W1.
- Regular lunchtime concert series featuring young artists at venues such as St James’s Piccadilly, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Regent Hall, and St Barnabas Millennium Hall featuring outstanding young artists and acclaimed interpreters.
The Society promotes a wide contextual understanding of Beethoven’s oeuvre through an emphasis on less familiar works by Beethoven and his contemporaries. Specially themed concerts series addressing broader issues have included ‘Beethoven and Suppressed Music’, ‘Pianists of the World’ and ‘Beethoven and Youth’.
PUBLICATIONS
Society publications include regular newsletters, distributed to members two times a year, and Arietta. The newsletter contains information about events and reports, while the journal Arietta features articles by renowned scholars and interviews with leading concert artists, as well as reviews and news.
Corporate Members
Officers and Patrons
OFFICERS
Hon. UK President
Sir András Schiff CBE
Hon. European President
Ronald Brautigam
European Vice Presidents
Martha Argerich
Stephen Kovacevich
Chairman
Julian Jacobson
Vice Chairman
Melvyn Cooper
Journal Editor
Malcolm Miller
Committee Members
Angela Brownridge
Bobby Chen
Martin Cotton
Nadia Lasserson
Jan Loeffler
Karl Lutchmayer
Treasurer
Clive Nunn
Historical Performance Consultant
Geoffrey Govier
Administrator
Yvonne Cheng
PATRONS
The Master, The worshipful Company of Musicians
Diane Andersen
Sulamita Aronovsky
Ronald Brautigam
W.C.L Brown CBE
Prof. Barry Cooper
Marcella Crudeli
Jonathan Del Mar
Peter Frankl
Renna Kellaway
Paul Lewis
John Lill CBE
Murray McLachlan
Dominique Merlet
Einar Steen-Nøkleberg
Dr. Alan Walker OC
