EVC Music – Pianodao

22 Nocturnes for Chopin

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A few months ago I brought exciting news of a project developed by Elena Cobb of EVC Music and RNCM final-year student Rose McLachlan. A “Call to Women Composers” was extended worldwide, with a brief to compose a new piano piece inspired by the beloved Nocturnes of Chopin.

You can read all about it here. And you will learn in that post that I was subsequently invited to Chair the Selection Committee which also included the concert pianist and teacher Kathryn Page, recording artist Anna Heller, and ISM President Vick Bain.

Having played a role in this project, I cannot of course review the resulting publication with the same independence of perspective that I usually offer.

Nevertheless, I am pleased to let you know that the resulting publication is now available worldwide, and makes an exciting addition to the Pianodao Music Library…

Paul Birchall’s Daily Expressions

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Fresh from the Elena Cobb Star Prize Festival event in London earlier this week, I am continuing my survey of the superb catalogue of piano music published by EVC Music, much of which I have previously reviewed here.

Among the publications which I have previously featured on this site, and a highlight of the EVC catalogue, I was super-impressed with Paul Birchall’s excellent Blues, Boogie, Jazz and more collection, several pieces from which appeared in the Star Prize Festival programme this year.

Birchall’s two collections of Daily Expressions, published a few years ago, make another worthy (if belated) addition to the Pianodao Music Library.

Sam Wedgwood’s Project

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I am just back from the Elena Cobb Star Prize Festival, an event organised each year by EVC Music and held in the Elgar Room at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. Young players from around the world are invited to take part, performing music predominantly handpicked from the EVC catalogue, this year including performances from youngsters from as far afield as Canada, the USA, Colombia, the UK, Ukraine, and even Australia.

From a personal perspective, the Festival offers a golden opportunity to hear music from the many EVC publications that I have reviewed here brought brilliantly to life in superb performances, many accompanied by a professional house band, which further adds to the sense that this is a uniquely brilliant and life-changing event for families taking part.

For 2023, the programme included several pieces composed by Sam Wedgwood, whose Next Level collection I previously reviewed here, but who has previously also published two books under the title Sam Wedgwood’s Project, which I will retrospectively introduce and review now.

Simply put, I really enjoyed the performances of these pieces. So let’s find out more about Sam Wedgwood’s Project…

Piano Grades Are Go! Grades 2-3

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I was genuinely excited by the arrival of the first book in Victoria Producer’s Piano Grade Are GO! series from EVC Music, writing in my review that the collection was:

“that rarest of beasts: a genuinely stunning music book for elementary players.”

My enthusiasm for the book remains undiminished, and I suggest you read that review before progressing to this one: many of the points I wrote about the goals and content of the first book equally apply to the second…

So what about this second collection? Well, it offers 21 new pieces suitable for players at UK Grades 2 and 3 level. Read on to find out more…

A ‘Call to Women Composers’

Some months ago I was approached by Rose McLachlan, a gifted pianist who is currently studying at the Royal Northern College of Music. Rose wanted to discuss an idea she was developing with EVC Music founder Elena Cobb…

’22 Nocturnes for Chopin’ would be a new collection of piano miniatures written in the spirit of the great composer’s works, suitable for players at advanced level (around UK Grades 6-8), and to that end Rose and Elena would extend a “call to women composers” around the world, inviting submissions for consideration.

The eventual selection would be performed by Rose and published by EVC Music. Some half dozen pieces would be commissioned from established composers, while the rest would be previously unpublished.

Rose and Elena were keen for me to help with the selection process, and I had soon agreed to Chair the Selection Committee, which came to include the concert pianist and teacher Kathryn Page, recording artist Anna Heller, and ISM President Vick Bain.

Donald Thomson’s Winter Piano Music

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Scottish composer Donald Thomson is perhaps best known for his series of Celtic Piano Music collections for intermediate pianists, the omnibus edition of which I have reviewed here.

I have also been impressed with his enjoyable Halloween Piano Tunes collection for elementary players, which I reviewed here recently.

Now Thomson is back with Winter Piano Music, a new collection that is once again published by EVC Music. This time he has written for the more advanced player, delivering five compositions and arrangements which are surely destined to become seasonal concert favourites…

Grooves for Piano Dudes

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Heather Hammond is well established as one of the best-loved educational composers in the UK today, with more than 100 publications in print (piano and woodwind) from a variety of publishers.

The last time I took a good look at Hammond’s music was in my review of her Ballads Without Words, brought to us by EVC Music. In this review, I’m considering a contrasting series of her music from the same publisher.

Grooves for Piano Dudes currently includes three volumes, including one with a special Halloween theme. All are suitable for intermediate players, and between them offer 37 fresh Hammond compositions in jazz, rock, blues and boogie styles…

Donald Thomson’s Halloween Piano Tunes

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Having only just reviewed the Willis Music’s Halloween anthology Spooky Sounds here’s another dastardly publication, this time from EVC Music and scaring us with 19 original pieces from the excellent Donald Thomson.

I have previously praised Thomson’s Celtic Piano Music (reviewed here), and am equally enthusiastic about this collection. Let’s open it up to find out what’s lurking within…

Blues, Boogie, Jazz & more…

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Paul Birchall is a veteran keyboard and piano player with a career in commercial music spanning four decades of touring the world with the likes of M People, Jim Diamond, Snake Davis and Wang Chung. Now based in Manchester, he composes for TV, film, theatre, and for his own record label.

Some readers may know of Birchall’s Daily Expressions, previously published by the enterprising EVC Music. Now he’s back with a brand new publication. Blues, Boogie, Jazz & More (again from EVC Music) offers a superb mix of nine pieces in contemporary popular styles with full backing tracks, suitable for intermediate piano players…

Nancy Litten’s Piano Postcards

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Nancy Litten has made her mark as a leading educational composer here in the UK, with string, vocal and electronic keyboard publications from Alfred Music, and enjoyable contributions to ABRSM publications such as Keyboards Together, Piano Mix and Piano Star.

Litten has recently joined the roster of composers whose music is published by EVC Music, and her debut piano solo publication has now arrived…

Piano Postcards offers 12 Recital Piano Works Inspired by Travel, suitable for intermediate players at around UK Grade 3-4 level. Let’s take a look…