It's a long-standing problem that while most young musicians have ensembles available to them from their earliest lessons, pianists embark on a good few years of solitary practice before the vitally important social side of music-making begins.
Midlands-based publisher and composer Elena Cobb is well aware of the issue: ‘There is very little attention given to the young pianists who, I feel, are penalised for being solo performers. There are national orchestras, choirs and charities where students, even on a beginner level, from every corner of the country, can enjoy music-making and perform in world-class venues.
‘But young pianists simply accept they need to practise for the next exam – and this is probably why there is an exam-obsessed culture among piano parents in the UK who see the exams as the only way forward,’ she says.
TWO SOLUTIONS
Cobb has taken a two-pronged approach to solving this problem. First, she set up EVC Music Publications Ltd (UK), a relatively new publishing house with an objective of ‘creating a wide variety of inspirational piano repertoire for concerts, competitions and festivals for the new generation’.
And secondly, she has given pupils the opportunity to play these works in front of an audience. Through her work with the British and International Federation of Festivals, Cobb has now set up an annual concert. The Elena Cobb Star Prize takes place in the Elgar Room at London's Royal Albert Hall, and enables young pianists to perform music by living composers and published by EVC.
The project began in 2014 when Cobb started to work with UK and overseas music festivals, providing pieces for performers. In 2017 she joined forces with ABRSM, and Piano Star books were added to the performance list.
‘I figured out very early on that it was up to me to get my music published if I wanted to be performed and to run a successful business,’ she says.
Starting with just one book – Higgledy Piggledy Jazz for Piano, which is soon to be published in China – the brand has now grown to include nearly two hundred piano works. Some of her pieces are also included in festivals: in the US at the Carmel Klavier and in the Feurich Competition in Vienna.
Elena Cobb at the Gibraltar Festival
‘The response to the Royal Albert Hall concert has been overwhelming,’ says Cobb. ‘We are delighted to have players from the United States, Columbia, South Korea, India, Israel, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom coming along – and having a really well-known venue has been such a draw.’
Steven Roberts, chairman of the British and International Federation of Festivals, believes the showcase concert has an important role to play. ‘As creative subjects are increasingly marginalised in schools, it's imperative that young people have an opportunity to experience performing to an audience,’ he says. ‘This, coupled with the encouragement and constructive feedback that our professional adjudicators provide, helps create confidence that will see young people through many situations in later life.’
The Cobb Awards have also helped the federation by running three classes and awarding prizes to winners. ‘Many of our member festivals are small charities run by volunteers – the Elena Cobb Star Prize has really enabled a focus on piano pieces by living composers at these festivals,’ added Roberts.
Cobb is understandably excited about the April concert. ‘New music needs new performers and there are no better concert opportunities of this kind,’ she says. ‘Students will have a chance to learn and play completely new piano pieces written by their contemporaries – composers who live and work today. They will feel that they are doing something culturally important.
‘Memories of the solo performance on the world-famous stage will stay with the children forever. It will build their confidence, character and self-esteem and one day, when they are older, they will be telling their own children, “when I was your age, I played the piano at the Royal Albert Hall”.’
The Elena Cobb Star Prize Winners Concert and Showcase Recital will be taking place in the Elgar Room of the Royal Albert Hall on 5 April 2018. Audience tickets cost £15 and are available at www.elenacobb.com
