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17
Dec 2023
Harrogate piano school celebrates 25 years with pupil concert
Harrogate-based piano school, Saphir Piano Studios, has celebrated its 25th anniversary with a pupil concert at the Wesley Centre on Oxford Street.
Julian and Nichola Saphir, who are directors of the studios as well as teachers, are both concert pianists and Royal College of Music alumni.
They moved to Harrogate from London in 1998 and have continued to build their full-time piano school ever since. They currently have more than 80 pupils.
Their December concert is a long-standing tradition but had not taken place since 2019 due to covid.
To celebrate their quarter of a century in Harrogate, the concert saw 34 pupils perform an eclectic programme of piano music on the Wesley Centre's prestigious hand-crafted Yamaha CF-lllS concert grand piano, which has been played by some of the world’s most famous concert pianists, including Sir Stephen Hough, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Marc-André Hamelin.
Among those taking part was five-year-old Grace Xiu, who is the studios’ youngest pupil.
Alongside the young performers were three of Saphir Piano Studios’ adult students, Moira Morgan, Alistair Duff and Phil Howarth, who treated the audience to music by Chopin and Robert Schumann.
One of the highlights was a six-handed piece by Rachmaninoff, performed by St. Aidan’s Church of England High School sixth formers Annabel Baxter, Krish Desha-Beerachee and Jack Brierley.
The concert was brought to a sparkling finale with the Saphirs themselves giving a duet performance of the ever-popular Christmas favourite, Sleigh Ride.
Julian and Nichola said:
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