Willis Music Company – Page 2

Willis Student Recital Collection

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

My latest piano collection for Willis Music Company is a bumper anthology which builds on the success of the Graded Gillock series and Naoko Ikeda Graded Collection, and features 40 pieces written by composers from across the leading publisher’s best-selling catalogue.

This collection focuses on performance pieces, suitable for studio recitals, school concerts, and local music events. With that in mind, I have particularly sought out music which is both inspiring for the learner to play, and enjoyable for audiences.

The pieces appear in progressive order, Elementary to Late Intermediate, UK Grades 1-6. The full list appears below, and to give you a taste of the superb music in this bumper anthology, I have recorded a playlist of 15 out of the 40 pieces:

Willis Music Company at 125

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

It is easy for musicians and teachers to overlook the immense importance of the publishers who supply us with a fresh and continuing flow of excellent sheet music, from improved editions of established favourites to new performance works and educational resources.

The 125th anniversary of the founding of Willis Music Company, one of the world’s great educational music publishers, offers an opportunity to reflect on the incredible contribution to the world of piano education that their groundbreaking publications have made for more than a century, and their continuing impact on the content of our daily teaching, learning, and playing.

Around the world, and continuing every day, literally millions of learners have sat at the piano with a Willis Music score on the music desk in front of them.

We owe the Willis Music Company a huge debt of gratitude, so let me first say Thank You and Congratulations to everyone at the company.

And now let’s consider the inspiring story of this great business (which I have adapted and shortened from the company’s website here) and celebrate the far-reaching impact their publications have made to generations of players…

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection, for which I had the honour of selecting and editing 24 solo piano pieces by the contemporary Japanese educational composer last year, is already proving a hit with players and other teachers.

Working on that collection involved a deep dive into Ikeda’s work, and the solo pieces in my selection are truly the tip of a tremendous iceberg. But alongside her wonderful solo music, I also discovered that Ikeda has composed a significant body of very enjoyable music for one piano, four hands.

How wonderful that Ikeda has now, with publisher Willis Music Company, curated a selection of 15 of her favourite duet compositions.

The Naoko Ikeda Duet Collection can be seen as a natural companion to The Graded Collection. The book will be welcomed by teachers and intermediate players who enjoy duets, and want to explore more of Ikeda’s music.

Masterpieces for the Modern Pianist

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Bumper books of piano repertoire have long been a popular feature of the music publishing landscape. They can also prove hugely useful, as illustrated by a student I currently teach who is putting together a complete Grade 7 programme using only the free music compendium that arrived (in a polythene bag, alongside the instruction manual) with his Yamaha piano.

One of the enjoyable quirks of such anthologies is that they often include some unexpected rarities alongside the usual chestnuts, and this is a strength that The Willis Music Company have particularly played to with their latest venture into this market. Masterpieces for the Modern Pianist claims, and succeeds, in offering:

“a unique classical piano solo collection of over 70 timeless favourites and featuring undiscovered gems!”

Read on for the complete list and review of this remarkable fresh arrival…

Uplifting Piano Solos

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

I recently reviewed a series of seven books of arrangements of popular religious songs by Glenda Austin, an esteemed pedagogue, composer and arranger from Missouri USA. As I mentioned in my conclusion to that review, Solos for the Sanctuary offer their own masterclass in how to take a simple melody and create an engaging piano solo, rich in musical substance.

Now Austin is back with a brand new secular collection from The Willis Music Company. Uplifting Piano Solos offers “ten inspiring arrangements” suitable for intermediate to early advanced players, and I would suggest that the collection would suit players at around UK Grades 5-7 level.

I am thrilled to welcome this, a collection that showcases Austin’s brilliant skill to a potentially broader audience. So let’s take a quick look…

Naoko Ikeda Graded Collection

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Following the success of my series of three Graded Gillock collections published by Willis Music last year, I was delighted to be asked to compile a companion collection showcasing the wonderful music of Japanese composer Naoko Ikeda.

Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection, now available from Willis Music, includes 24 of Ikeda’s best solo piano pieces, organised in approximate order of difficulty and appropriately grouped according to the UK Grade system from Grade 2 to Grade 5 level.

These stunning pieces would make wonderful selections as “own choices” in Performance Grades, and with six pieces for each of the four grades covered, they provide a rich feast to enhance the player’s development throughout their intermediate playing years.

The pieces have been chosen to offer a flavour of the musical range of this fine composer, ranging from jazz and pop ballads to emotive pieces infused with the musical language and imagery of Japanese culture.

In the introduction that follows I will offer background to the collection in greater depth, as well as including my own piano recordings of 8 of the 24 pieces, which give a varied, representative preview of the collection.

You will also hear from Naoko Ikeda herself, as she shares about her creative journey in her own words…

A Dozen A Day • All Year Round

Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

Edna-Mae Burnam’s six books of technical exercises, A Dozen A Day, quickly established themselves as classics in the piano pedagogy literature, and in the decades since their first appearance back in the 1950’s, their short routines and iconic illustrations have found their way into the hearts (and fingers) of developing pianists around the world, selling some 25 million copies.

In her introduction to the books, Burnam gets straight to the point in explaining the value of A Dozen A Day:

“Many people do exercises every morning before they go to work. Likewise, we should all give our fingers exercises every day BEFORE we begin our practising.”

The joy and the genius with which the book’s famous and ever-popular stick characters convey this message cannot be overstated, and is a testament to the book’s enduring appeal and generation-busting brilliance.

I have been using these little books with my students since I first started teaching in the 1990’s, and although they have featured less prominently in my studio in recent years, they continue to make their appearance, and offer a hugely useful resource which can be used from the very first lessons, and right up to advanced level.

Encouraging a fresh look, publishers Willis Music brought out a bumper edition back in 2017, which I am going to be focusing on in this review. A Dozen A Day: All Year Round offers additional attractions for teachers, which I will outline, but I would still steer students towards the individual books, appropriate for each level.

Solos for the Sanctuary

Pianodao Music Library
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales

For any who are unfamiliar with Glenda Austin’s work, she is a prolific composer and superb arranger from Missouri USA, whose work is published by the Willis Music Company, distributed by Hal Leonard.

With vast experience as a church musician, Austin has been making arrangements of classic hymns and worship songs since she was a teenager playing in a small Baptist church. Today, she continues to play for the United Methodist Church in her hometown, Joplin.

Austin’s Solos for the Sanctuary series launched with Hymns and a Christmas collection more than a decade ago. Aimed at “the Church Pianist”, these books delivered arrangements suitable for advanced players (around UK Grades 7-8) to include as musical interludes in services as appropriate.

Further collections soon appeared, becoming a popular strand of Austin’s output alongside her educational work. Spirituals (2011), Worship (2012), Gospel (2014) and Hymns 2 (2019) have now been joined by Seasons (2023), prompting this review looking back at the series.