26 June: PIANO WITH LOVE at The Red Hedgehog

A programme of much-loved works by a variety of classical composers, performed by Londoners who work for a living - but play for love!

PIANO WITH LOVE

FABIENNE LASSAGNE
I started learning the piano at 7 and stopped when I left school. A few years later, I came to London by chance and was lucky enough to meet Kenneth van Barthold, Head of Piano studies at the City Lit, who encouraged me to go to the Guildhall School of Music where I studied with James Gibb. In my second year there I met my husband and stayed in London, but neighbour issues, full-time work and raising a family put a stop to piano study until I retired and we moved near a couple of friendly music lovers! I was finally able to start serious practice again and am grateful for this wonderful opportunity to indulge my passion.

SAKURA NISHIOKA
Sakura is a passionate music and piano lover based in London.
She previously studied composition at Brooklyn College, USA and had a professional career as a singer in New York. She released four 12-inch jazz-hip hop records in the late 2000s while living in her hometown of Sendai, Japan.

Life-changing experiences, including the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, marriage and children, eventually led her back to her first musical love - classical piano, which she had studied in her early years before taking a break of over 20 years.

Sakura’s works as an Energy and Climate expert and holds a PhD in social sciences.

HOWARD SMITH
Howard Smith is an enthusiastic amateur pianist and author of Note For Note: Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered. His unique memoir charts his journey from a 40-year career in the computer industry to mastering the art of piano performance in later life. Praised as "a truly inspirational odyssey" by concert pianist Murray McLachlan, Howard's story highlights determination and disciplined learning. He is a regular student at Chetham’s International Piano Summer School and an active performer with piano meetup groups based in or around London.

Howard has also performed at venues including St Olaves, October Gallery and the 1901 Arts Club.

DR RICHARD STEVENS
Dr Richard Stevens is a former theatre and BBC TV Director (including notable series such as Z Cars and Dr Finlay’s Casebook) and presented BBC TV’s Happiness series.
He is an academic psychologist at Trinity College Dublin, University of California,and is Head of Psychology at the Open University.
Publications include Freud, Erikson and Understanding the Self.
His great love has been playing piano. He started playing classical piano at age 5 and moved to jazz in his teens, He studied music at Edinburgh University as a second subject.
His CD Retrospections (in which he performs his own compositions alongside pieces by Debussy, Grieg, Satie and Palmgren) was recorded at the BBC several years ago. He has played at a range of jazz venues including Ronnie Scott Jazz Club.
He hasn’t played much in public in the last few years but recently (stimulated by, among other things, exciting recitals at The Red Hedgehog), he has begun again, mostly playing jazz.

PRIYA VISESKUL
Outside of work as a software engineer, Priya finds joy in gardening and playing the piano.

She returned to practising the piano in 2018 after more than a 20-year hiatus. In the past few years she has been focusing on rebuilding her technique and working on her performance anxiety through regular meetups with fellow pianists who perform to each other online.
She regularly participates in Tonebase online community concerts and has recently begun to perform at informal performances run by the London Piano Meetup Group.

DAVID DREEBIN
David Dreebin has gained a teaching diploma (LRAM) in piano from the Royal Academy of Music in London and currently attends advanced level master classes at Morley College. He has won numerous awards at many competitive festivals in Croydon and Maidenhead.
Performances include recitals at the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington and at Burgh House, Hampstead over the last 20 years.
In 2015 he performed Chopin and Debussy at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon’s premier music and arts centre.
David has a degree in Chemistry from the University of London. He had a 23 year career in information technology for BT, before retiring in 2018.