TESTIMONIALS

At the first Smith College Alan Fraser Summer Piano Institute (June 2011) there was a wide mixture of participants, from adult beginners to young pianists to jazz pianists to consummate professionals. It was exciting to see Alan Fraser's principles of empowering the hand working equally well at all levels - every single workshop participant experienced a breakthrough in their playing through the week. Here are some of their comments:

"Magical, motivating, meaty, and altogether marvelous! A week with Alan Fraser is like a year of study alone or with other teachers. These demonstrations, lectures and lessons will sustain you for a year... or even a lifetime! I've attended masterclasses for forty years, but Alan Fraser's Institute was still a revelation in how to teach fundamentals without ever compromising the music. We worked, laughed, bonded and came away with a whole new world of physicality and sound."
(Sue Hammond, creator of "BEETHOVEN LIVES UPSTAIRS", Toronto, Ontario)

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"I came away from this Institute simply blown away with Alan Fraser's teaching. At the beginning of the week he promised each one of us a breakthrough, and I had many. When I tried to describe some of them in writing, I came up with

THE TOP TEN THINGS I GOT FROM THE INSTITUTE:

1. I learned to understand how my hand is organized.
2. I am learning to identify bad habits in my practice sessions.
3. Better technique helps me solve imprecise rhythmic problems.
4. I feel a better, closer connection to the piano
5. I learned to listen to my playing.
6. Improving my technique has helped me hear colors or quality of sound better.
7. Improved listening helps me connect and understand the music.
8. I learned that coordination problems stem from a lack of technique and are not a human defect.
9. I learned to pay more attention to the details in the music.
10. I feel more musical and capable.

And there's one huge bonus item: since I got back, my work with my own students has been completely transformed - they notice a huge difference, and their playing is improving by leaps and bounds!"

(Janet Buhler, Salt Lake City)

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"Alan, your workshop was wonderful. Your knowledge, energy, dedication, long hours, kindness, and sense of humor made this an experience I will never forget. Your tips re using fingers have been a great help and continue to transform my playing."

(William Manico, lawyer, Washington DC)

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"I liked the size of the group a lot. It was big enough to have a good deal of interchange and I learned a whole lot from observing the others, but it was small enough that it felt very individualized and flexible according to the needs of each person... After getting home I sat down at my piano to see if I could remember anything. It was thrilling to find that I could still do what I had discovered, making even my simple upright sound like that wonderful Steinway we had the lessons on..."

(Amy Shafer, Tennessee)