Woman achieves highest award for playing piano

A WOMAN from Checkendon is “still getting used to the idea” of the highest qualification for playing piano.

Mary Daniels, 61, has been awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM) diploma.

It is the highest qualification awarded by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Equivalent to a master’s degree, it is achieved by only the most experienced music educators and has a pass rate of around 50 per cent.

It took Mrs Daniels, a piano teacher who lives in Whitehall Lane with husband Steve, about three years to prepare for and complete the qualification.

She was helped through the process by her piano teacher Pamela Chilvers, from Caversham.

Mrs Daniels said one of the biggest challenges she faced was a lack of confidence in her own ability, having encountered many other talented musicians while at university.

She said: “I had a long break from playing the piano for about 11 years, which was very painful because it meant a lot to me, but I just thought I wasn’t very good. Pam got me out of that way of thinking and made me much more positive.

“She was just so incredibly encouraging and we got on so well. We were so in-tune musically and I thought, ‘This is someone who can really help me’. We were a meeting of minds.”

To build her confidence and prepare for the diploma, she gave recitals at Caversham Baptist Church, Goring Church and at St Mary’s Church in Henley and she rediscovered her love of the piano.

Mrs Daniels first began to learn piano aged 11 and, within five years, she had reached Grade 8 level — the highest performance grade. After her 11-year break she attended a summer school hosted by concert pianist Mark Tanner, who encouraged her to work towards her FRSM diploma.

As part of this she submitted a written essay and played for 55 minutes from memory.

She opted to play from Debussy’s Images Book 1, Beethoven’s Appassionata sonata and Black Earth, an unusual, contemporary piece by Turkish composer Fazıl Say.

Mrs Daniels said: “When I think back to the days when I wouldn’t even play for my husband when my anxiety was at its most extreme and then think about performing a huge work like the Appassionata with abandon, I do feel incredibly grateful that I stuck with it.

“It has been a very long journey but a really rewarding one.”

Mrs Daniels said she may take up violin lessons and hopes to resume lessons with Pamela — perhaps with the goal of playing a concerto with a local orchestra. But, for now, she is reflecting on all the support she received from her family.

“I am still getting used to the idea that I have got it,” said Mrs Daniels. “I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way: Pam particularly, Mark Tanner, the people who taught me at school, and my lovely family — my daughter Emily and my husband Steve, because they’ve been incredibly supportive.”

Mrs Chilvers, who has been teaching piano for 50 years, said: “It’s easy to teach Mary because she’s so responsive and takes it seriously. Her attitude is 100 per cent, so it’s a joy to teach someone like that.

“But, with the FRSM, it’s not teaching per se, it’s more of a collaboration. We worked together through all of the ups and downs — it was quite a process.”

Mrs Chilvers said supporting Mrs Daniels to achieve her FRSM was “without a doubt” one of the crowning achievements of her career, adding: “I’m very proud of Mary.”