Pianists in Conversation with Andrew Eales
David Jones has enjoyed an enviable career as a pianist, educator, and music examiner. Currently Head of Piano at the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies’ College, he is also the founder and driving force behind The Thinking Pianist residential courses for adult pianists.
In this wide-ranging interview, I talk to David about the highs and lows of his career, the personal struggles and positive vision which inspire his work…
Inauspicious beginnings
Andrew: Can we start by talking about your early piano education? Thinking back to your young childhood, can you pinpoint your earliest memorable musical experience?
David: I started piano lessons at age 7, with the organist of the local Methodist church. I didn’t find her very inspiring and wasn’t really switched on to music at that stage. I remember being entered into a Grade 1 class at a small local festival playing Mozart’s famous Minuet in F. I got very nervous but managed to come third. I was more into creative writing at that stage, so was chuffed to win the short story competition.
Memorable for the right reasons was realising, at around age 12, that I had inherited my Dad’s love of Beethoven. My teacher said the last movement of the Moonlight was too hard for me so I learned it by myself.
Andrew: So from these inauspicious beginnings, your love for music began to flourish! Can you tell us more about how your piano education progressed from there, and how your enthusiasm for the piano grew in the teenage years that followed?
David: Obsession with Bach, Beethoven and Bartók led to hours of hugely enjoyable musical exploration, though my technique was very undeveloped.
I owe my evolution as a musician to my high-school music teacher, a dynamic one-woman music department at an undistinguished Comprehensive in the outer London suburbs. She found me two hugely inspiring piano teachers in succession, the second being the late Niel Immelman, with whom I then went on to study at the Royal College of Music.
In my mid-teens I was lucky enough to gain experience on various courses playing orchestral piano and choral accompanying, which led to several concerto opportunities with amateur orchestras. I didn’t go to a Junior Department or specialist school, but discovered on entering RCM that my path there had been pretty unusual.
Andrew: It’s interesting to see in your childhood development the seed of the varied musical career and rounded personality which has followed, but I wonder whether, as an undergraduate at the RCM, you found your different background was in any way a disadvantage at first, either musically or perhaps socially?
David: Socially, no problem at all! I made some good friends pretty quickly, despite not living in one of the few halls of residence available. I am still in touch with a couple of people I met on the very first day.
Musically, I had tried to prepare myself for the shock of being surrounded by so many talented, accomplished musicians but it was still disorientating, and sometimes demoralising.
Looking back and reflecting, I think a lot of people suffer heavily from what we now call “imposter syndrome” at times like that. Luckily the effect on me was to motivate me to work hard and, with a wonderfully supportive teacher, that’s what I proceeded to do. I had been looking forward to RCM for years, and I was determined to make the most of it.
The Performing Pianist
Andrew: How long were you there, and can you tell us about the transition from conservatoire to professional work?
David: I was at RCM for five years in total. Latterly I was in the first cohort to take the MMusRCM degree (with a thesis on 12-tone piano music). I then studied at the Liszt Academy, Budapest for two years, which was a wonderful opportunity to connect with the Central European musical heartland.
I was never interested in doing big competitions or developing a large conventional concert repertoire, though I was lucky enough to be given plenty of opportunities to do concerto work.
Instead, my longstanding interest in “new music” led to this becoming the central focus of my performing career, hoping in time to end up as pianist for an elite contemporary group such as Ensemble InterContemporain (I auditioned twice!) or London Sinfonietta. I did lots of very interesting work, both solo and in ensembles, alongside my developing teaching career, which I was finding more and more rewarding.
Andrew: What were the highs and lows?
David: High points as a performer were coming a close second in the British Contemporary Piano Competition, as well as my work with the Bristol-based Brunel Ensemble which included concertos at London’s Festival Hall. In the 1990s, this group had significant private funding and was being positioned as a potentially new and exciting major orchestra for Bristol (along the lines of the Bournemouth orchestras).
A significant low was when funding collapsed and this just did not materialise. By that stage I was also examining for ABRSM and depping on a long-running West End show. The teaching had expanded to include the Purcell School, the University of London, and various independent schools. So the typical “portfolio career” was beginning to pan out OK.
The Teaching Pianist
Andrew: As teaching gradually took over as your main work, what lessons from your own education and performing did you find most helpful and relevant for learners? How have you found that, teaching at a variety of levels, your previous ideas about piano education have needed to adapt?
David: Those are very interesting questions! I definitely grew up with the mindset of studying “at the feet of” guru-like teachers as the route to musical self-realisation and consequent professional success. Some of my teachers were very kind people, but the general culture was not conducive to preserving personal wellbeing under pressure.
My own teaching, however, was always geared towards helping to find and develop the musician inside every one of my pupils. I was always fascinated by the vast number of ways in which misconceptions can happen in the human brain and body, especially when people are trying to learn a new skill. I think my teaching springs from this instinct, so rather than impose my own learning journey on others, my approach was always to adapt to each new pupil or situation.
Having said that, I have always aimed to help pupils establish a strong technical foundation as a path to greater enjoyment. There are many ways to make this process more rewarding. As for exams, even though I worked through the ABRSM grades myself, I have never insisted on these as a definitive route to progress for any of my pupils.
Andrew: For many years your main teaching work has been at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, and I wonder what the specific challenges of this are. How would you say this special environment differs from mainstream piano teaching in the community?
David: My role at CLC is multi-faceted though includes plenty of highly rewarding one-to-one teaching. I aim to teach across all levels, but as Head of Keyboard, I inevitably end up with a higher proportion of advanced students.
These days some children can arrive in Year 7 or Year 9 with one diploma already under their belt, often being pushed further. We can support this under the right circumstances, but more often we try to open their horizons towards developing themselves as musicians rather than doggedly pursuing yet another qualification.
For example, I have devised a Collaborative Piano Pathway which aims to widen the perceptions of pupils of all standards towards duets, two-pianos, accompanying, and jazz piano. The latter is so often easier to teach in some kind of group setting.
It’s a highly academic school, and it’s ironic that so many of these children, the most talented I have worked with in my career, many with a deep and genuine love of music, would never contemplate pursuing any kind of career in the profession.
Along with my wonderful team of 10 visiting piano teacher colleagues, I am often teaching pupils how to maximise the efficiency of their over-scarce practice time within very inflexible school timetables.
By instilling a hopefully lifelong love of music, we feel we are at the very least helping to nurture future committed audiences, supporters, and perhaps philanthropic patrons of the arts.
Crisis and reevaluation
Andrew: A few years ago, you went through a hiatus in your career which I understand proved pivotal in helping you redirect both your working life and, more importantly, your wellbeing. Are you comfortable telling us more about this?
David: Yes, I’d be happy to. Nine years ago now, I went through an 18-month period of poor mental health during which I had to take two prolonged periods off work. At times the issues seemed bad enough that I might not be able to return to the job I love doing.
It began with what used to be called a “nervous breakdown” but which we would probably now describe as a rapid onset of an anxiety/panic disorder followed by a prolonged depression.
The immediate trigger was severe burnout/overwork. I had taken on too much and had a combination of perfectionist tendencies and impostor syndrome which, now that many of us are happy to talk about these issues more openly, is not at all uncommon!
My recovery came about through a combination of factors, including wonderful support from my family as well as CLC. I give a short talk about this highly personal experience on every Thinking Pianist course. It always seems to be received very warmly and I have so much appreciated the supportive and sympathetic dialogues with students and colleagues which result.
Andrew: During and after your recovery, what changes have there been in your philosophy, lifestyle, what adjustments in your attention to wellbeing?
David: The first six months of my illness were quite severe: I could barely leave the house and, distressingly, lost all meaningful connection with two of my most treasured activities: music and reading.
During this period, very basic restorative yoga helped to re-establish calmness within my body. As you would expect, medication was necessary for a few years, but I did not find talking therapies particularly helpful for a long time.
It was becoming aware of Stoicism, both ancient and modern, which finally started to help. Modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was founded on Stoic principles, and my discovery that most philosophy in the ancient world was actually much more like psychology, or self-help, was a huge and transformative inspiration.
As I began to improve, I took up Tai Chi and found a consequent deeper acquaintance with Daoist thought enormously helpful too.
And the NHS Couch-to-5K running programme was invaluable. I had not really run before, did not enjoy it for a long time but pushing myself to do something purely physical was, and still is, important.
Before becoming unwell, I did not think that I actively neglected my wellbeing, but I have since realised I was spending too much time in my frontal lobes! These days I am back to being extremely busy, but ensure I continue to nourish all of my non-work activities, as well as treasuring family, friends and community a lot more.
Andrew: Thank you for sharing that, and yes, finding balance is so important! And of course a foundation of Daoist thinking, and of the ideas and practices promoted on the Pianodao Wellbeing page.
The Thinking Pianist
Andrew: So let’s talk about The Thinking Pianist course! What makes this such a special initiative?
David: Strangely, when I came up with the idea of The Thinking Pianist I wasn’t immediately conscious of it being a direct consequence of my illness and recovery. But part of getting better involved a realisation that I needed to reanimate my sense of community with others outside the all-consuming “goldfish bowl” atmosphere of my workplace.
Since arriving at CLC in 2008, I had always wondered why they had never tried to put on a piano course, as the instruments and facilities are extraordinary, as are the surroundings. I wanted to try to open this up to others, and it seemed natural to share some of my experiences of burnout and recovery by including wellbeing activities and advice.
I wanted to give the course a holistic feel, but also to allow each participant to shape their own experience in a more bespoke way than is perhaps possible on some other courses. This is hard work, but participant feedback as well as a high rate of return seems to indicate we are achieving this.
I have been so lucky to find such marvellous colleagues who share my vision as well as, to some extent, my mistrust of the traditional, authoritarian “great teacher” model of piano education. Wonderful piano colleagues such as Tim Horton, Mengyang Pan, Enrico Elisi, Ivana Gavrić, Penelope Roskell, Melanie Spanswick, Philip Fowke, and of course your good self have helped make the course so special.
And Katie Neesa, our wellbeing guru and yoga instructor, has been a life-force of support since the very earliest days.
Andrew: With The Thinking Pianist course 2026 now booking, what are your hopes for this year’s event, and moving forward?
David: Booking for our fifth course in April is going well, though ideally we would like to get another 8-10 students signed up. It is exciting to see many new people giving the course a try, as well as a good number of staunch supporters, some of whom have been to every single course so far.
Performing on the course is always optional and this year we will provide an even wider range of opportunities, from small group workshops (which work well for those we are helping with severe performance anxiety) all the way up to a full course concert at the end for seasoned performers.
We will have the usual Piano Education content, particularly welcomed by those students who are themselves teachers. And our free improvisation workshop on 2 pianos is always a very liberating highlight.
Other themes will include a focus on female pianist composers, the neuroscience behind forming good practice habits, and a celebration of Kurtág’s 100th birthday, probably through exploration of his improvisatory set of educational miniatures Játékok (Toys & Games). The latter fits the theme of Play which I happen to know is dear to your own heart!
I have dreamt about so many exciting possibilities for the development and expansion of The Thinking Pianist. These include a course for young people (say 13-18), initiating some kind of bursary/scholarship system, offering more courses in the UK or abroad, and so on. I am working on plans for a YouTube channel too.
My day job is still very demanding, but if The Thinking Pianist continues to really take off there could be the option of devoting myself to it full time. For various reasons I don’t quite feel ready to take that step yet, but if the right combination of circumstances comes along, then who knows, I might!
Andrew: How exciting! And I am very much looking forward to working with you again at The Thinking Pianist in April, and from previous visits it is clear to me that you have pioneered something very special. Thank you!
To find out more about The Thinking Pianist course and book a place, visit the course website here:
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