Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
It was a pleasure to talk to Jon Jacob (at the Southbank Centre Members' Bar, no less) for the Thoroughly Good Classical Music podcast, and the episode is out now! I highly recommend his podcast in general - some great conversations with musicians. We talked about the process of programming both my current album, Cascade, and my previous one, Nightlight, about how it feels to listen to your own recordings (!) and about my experiences in Nairobi. Available on Spotify and Apple podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thoroughlygoodpodc…
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A few upcoming concerts for anyone in the UK! Come and say hi if you can make any of them xx
Next Tuesday, 10th October, 8pm
Solo recital at Turner Sims Southampton
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Schumann
www.turnersims.co.uk/events/cordelia-williams/
Tuesday 31st October, 7pm
Solo recital: 'Resonance', Emmanuel College Chapel, Cambridge
Bach, Debussy, Schubert, Prokofiev, Brahms
Saturday 18th November, 7.30pm
Schumann Piano Concerto in Hitchin
www.hitchinsymphony.org.uk/concerts
Sunday 26th November, 3pm
Solo recital, Seaford Music Society (near Brighton)
Programme includes Schubert's great A major Sonata D959
www.seafordmusicsociety.com/concerts/49-26th-novem…
Sunday 10th December, 3pm
Rachmaninov: Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Bradshaw Hall, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
www.bcu.ac.uk/conservatoire/events-calendar/bpo-sy…
Photo credit: KT Bruce at Rye Arts Festival, 16th September 2023
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CASCADE is officially released! This has been a busy week. My smaller boy turned 4, I gave a recital at Rye Festival, appeared on In Tune (available on BBC Sounds) AND made a very exciting mystery trip to BBC Radio 4 (more on that soon), but I got my own present too in the form of this first box of CDs :) I also wrote an article for Gramophone Magazine about the intensity of these gorgeous miniatures and why I am captivated by the momentary beauty of music. www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/article/pianist-cordeli…
I want to squeeze out a moment to celebrate Cascade, my fifth album with SOMM, and the product of 3.5 years thought and work. Featuring the most vibrant and brilliant glimpses into countless musical worlds, from Beethoven, Prokofiev and Schumann.
The album is available on Spotify, Apple, from SOMM Recordings and all other music sources - and watch out for the next issue of Pianist Magazine in which I write about how to play Schumann's Vogel als Prophet (the Prophet Bird), one of the most atmospheric tracks on Cascade. @PianistMagazine
"Often when I imagine you, your wholeness cascades into many shapes" Rainer Maria Rilke ❤️
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For any subscribers in Nairobi - please come and join us for a drink and some music on Thursday evening at Tribe Hotel, Village Market, Limuru Road. Starting at 6pm, I'll play music for solo piano (Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms and more), chamber music with violinist David Ralak and also feature pianist Teddy Otieno who has just finished his first year at music conservatoire. Hope to see you there - free entry so bring your friends!
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I enjoyed a little collaboration with @FrederickViner on the incredible Chopin 4th Ballade - he really makes me laugh. But also I love the way Fred unpicks the complexity of the layers of polyrhythm in this passage. And then I do a little bit on the purpose of the polyrhythms and how to practise it to get the right musical effect. Let me know if you like this kind of joint video; maybe we could do some more!
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Flashback to 2021 when I was last in Nairobi and filming this! What an amazing experience; diving into the world of film-making headfirst. Today I am finalising the details of my return visit to Nairobi to perform and teach during August ❤️ Details on my website and on the video I've just uploaded https://youtu.be/5ZMHLq0CB3Y
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Beautiful photos from my recent recital in Italy - a vlog of that trip (plus the new miraculous balance I've been working on in Brahms and Schubert) is up now! Concert in Italy / New discoveries https://youtu.be/QHfbwqN-nKM
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The video diaries are finally up! This was quite a long time in the making... Three months filming, then recovering from the performance for a while, then over a month trying to find time to edit it all together... But hopefully the result gives a pretty good insight into the process of practising and the amount of time that goes into a piece like this! ❤️ Rachmaninov
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Rainer Maria Rilke: Book of Hours -
... Just give me a little more time!
I want to love the things
as no one has thought to love them,
until they’re worthy of you and real.
If you're within batting distance of the City of London tomorrow, Thursday 2nd Feb, I'm playing some of the most breathtakingly beautiful music at 1.05pm at St Bart's in Smithfield. City Music Society have one of London's top pianos which I can't wait to play again, to see where I can push the boundaries of sound and silence and magic....
Also it's in the church where Hugh Grant didn't quite marry Duckface.
Schumann: Waldszenen Op 82 (Forest Scenes)
Schubert: Sonata in C minor D958
("Consummate artistry… touching real greatness. This is one of the great performances of this sonata." MusicWeb Interntational review, Recording of the Year 2021, Schubert D958)
Thursday 2nd February, 1.05pm
St Bartholomew the Great,
West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE
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I'm preparing for my next recording this weekend (album number 5, due for release this autumn). Absolutely gorgeous, magical soundworlds from Beethoven, Prokofiev and Schumann - I'm completely in love with all this music. It's a collection of works which give us tiny vibrant glimpses into different worlds.
But before diving full time into that music, today I've set aside two hours to come to my favourite local cafe and work on editing my video diary of preparing Rach 2 for performance - giving you an inside view of the entire process from note-learning, through intense technical work, to the concert day itself. WIsh me luck with the editing... I hope to post this next week! xx
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"Extraordinary" (Gramophone) and "defiantly original" (All About the Arts), Cordelia Williams is known especially for her performances of Schubert, Beethoven and Schumann, as well as her intensely creative programming.
She is also mother to two small boys with a third on the way, and enjoys exploring how to find the hours and the efficiency in life for a full-time performing career and full-time parenting.
Cascade album, 2023
"This is playing that plumbs the essence of Beethoven’s expressive genius… an unerring sense of colour and proportion… richly imaginative… deeply communicative. Don’t miss it." (International Piano)
"Audibly in thrall to the music at the tips of her fingers." (Sunday Times)
"Wholly exceptional… a profound aesthetic understanding conveyed through an interpretative technique of the highest order, which are rarely encountered these days." (Musical Opinion)
www.cordeliawilliams.net
Spotify open.spotify.com/artist/6h6E9YFg44wP65OPWdb9lV