Professor Ian Holtham
BA(Hons) DipEd PhD (Melb) BMus (Hons) (Durham) FTCL ARCM LRAM LGSM
Head of Keyboard & Head of Practical Studies
In 1999 Prof Holtham was invited to become the inaugural Head of Studies at the Australian National Academy of Music – a position he held for a year in addition to his position at the University of Melbourne. He is one of the most distinguished and highly regarded pianists and pedagogues in Australia and his performances of the great Classical and Romantic repertoire have played to packed houses and rave reviews for many years.
Prof Holtham studied with Peter Feuchtwanger, Geza Anda, as well as with Geoffrey Parsons and Enrique Barenboim in Europe for over five years during the 1970s. He also studied Composition and Conducting at the Guildhall School of Music. He has performed throughout Europe, Asia and Australia and has broadcast regularly with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since the late seventies appearing as a soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as with various orchestras and conductors over many years. He has performed and given Masterclasses throughout Australia, Europe and Asia over the last three decades. Ian is a Steinway artist and has established the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne as the only institution of higher musical training in the Southern Hemisphere which is a Steinway School. He is also the Chair of the Australian Music Examinations Board in Victoria, is the Chair of the national AMEB piano syllabus and has served two terms as the Federal Chair of the AMEB.
Prof Holtham has published a seminal text on piano technique, and was piano adviser and contributor to the Oxford Companion to Australian Music. He has published articles on Music in the Australian Book Review. He has judged and often chaired virtually all the major musical awards and scholarships within Australia. Since 1995 he has released a solo piano CD virtually each year. His first, Etudes, contained the complete Etudes of Chopin, Opus 10 and Opus 25. This and his subsequent CDs which cover an enormous range of repertoire have all been received with wide critical acclaim. His most recent CDs released through ABC Classics are Forest Scenes: the piano music of Robert Schumann and Beethoven: the last three Sonatas.
Current Activities
AMEB Technical Work Book
Late in 2008 the Australian Music Examinations Board will release its new piano syllabus, under the Chairmanship of Prof Ian Holtham. This is the most widely used piano syllabus for instrumental training in Australia. To coincide with the syllabus release, Ian is editing a new Technical Work Book which will include a comprehensive survey of all the technical requirements for all piano examinations from Preliminary to Grade Eight for the new piano syllabus, including fingering, tempo markings and general pianistic advice.
Hermann Abert’s Mozart
Hermann Abert’s monumental biography entitled, Mozart has been published in English well over eighty years after its appearance in German. Prof Holtham is currently preparing a review to be published by the Australian Book Review, one of the first articles concerning the critical reception of this major study to be published in Australia. In preparing this review Ian has also researched the critical reception of the work in the United States.
New Holtham CD
Prof Holtham is currently in the process of repertoire selection for his next CD. This project follows the release of the highly acclaimed CDs for ABC Classics, Forest Scenes – featuring a wide range of the piano Music of Robert Schumann – and the Late Beethoven Sonatas which were recorded on each of the three Melba Hall Steinways.
Faculty International Auditions in Practical Music
In August Prof Holtham travelled to Singapore and Kuala Lumpar where he gave various Masterclasses and conducted live auditions for the BMus and other Faculty courses.
Teaching
All Practical and Performance subjects in the BMus 1st to 4th years inclusive.
- MMus Recital Subjects
- DMA Recital subjects
- PhD performance supervision
- Romantic Piano Music
- Topics in Interpretation and Performance Practice (DMA)
- Postgraduate Performance Class (MMus and DMA)
Bibliography and discography
Websites
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/atoday/stories/s352760.htm
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