Alan Fraser lives in Belgrade, Serbia, and conducts residencies at his studio in a picturesque Belgrade suburb, the village of Gardosh. The American 1942 Steinway B originally owned by Wanda Landowska was moved to its new studio home, nestled under the escarpment that marks the southeasternmost border of the former Austro-Hungarian empire, in 2021. The Belgrade Center for Piano Somatics, Fine Arts & Feldenkrais lies in the shadow of the Millenium Tower, erected in the 19th century to mark 1,000 years of Hungarian presence in the region. The page header above shows the view from the tower.
The studio, to the extreme lower left in the page header photo, has excellent acoustics, is large enough to conduct Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement classes in situ, and is within walking distance of the Kosta Manoilovich Music School where practice facilities are available.
Gardosh's location in Zemun, just across the river from the Serbian capital city, Belgrade, is only 20 minutes from Tesla Airport, with low-cost connections to many major European cities. A residency here is a wonderful opportuntity to experience a little-known corner of Eastern Europe, with many inexpensive short term apartment rentals nearby and a multitude of restaurants with national and international cuisine. Register for our newsletter for more information.
Some say the sound and feel of the Landowska Steinway alone is worth the trip. Its extraordinary colour palette recalls the Horowitz Steinway D, and once you have learned how to open up your sound on this unique instrument, you'll discover new sound vistas on other instruments as well.
But of course, what ultimately makes the trip worthwhile is not the location, not the food, not the instrument, but the teacher. Alan Fraser will introduce you to a new sound world at the piano, and will show you how to organize your physical movements to create that sound. The work is truly transformative, leading not only to improved agility and freedom from pain and stiffness, but to a deeper form of expression where there is more of you in your playing as well as more of the composer.
The Belgrade Center for Piano Somatics, Fine Arts & Feldenkrais is also home to visual artist Maya Mayolinica, who studied at the Art Academy of Novi Sad when Alan still taught piano there. She did several years' post-graduate work in Italy where she developed a distinctive style that shows traces of Impressionism, Cubism, Post-Modernism, but which is essentially her own. Her works gracing the studio walls add a wonderful visual dimension to the our work at the piano, where we paint sound instead of canvases...
Are you hesitant to attend a residency? Feel you are not advanced enough? Not well-enough prepared? Don't worry; Alan welcomes all, no matter what your ability, no matter what the state of your program. Residencies really are open to all interested pianists:
There is no limit to improvement!
Here is the route from Nikola Tesla Airport to the studio - a 20 Euro taxi ride:
There is a positive glut of apartment rentals in the area. These attractive premises, all within a few hundred metres of the studio, are on offer at Airbnb.com: Gardosh Upper Town Gardosh Lower Town Gardosh Lower Town Gardosh Upper Town Gardosh Upper Town...
If several participants join together to rent a larger place such as the one pictured here (the first one on the list above), you can live in positively luxurious surroundings for next to nothing. Please contact us if you are open to sharing with other participants, and we will do our best to make arrangements.
There are many other apartment rental sites as well offering a wide variety of locations in the area: Airbnb Belgrade Art Apartments Stan na Dan (Apartments Day by Day) Apartments in Belgrade Belgrade Click Apartments Belgrade New Apartments
There are innumerable restaurants and cafés in the neighbourhood. Just to the left of the studio is the Three Fat Godfathers restuarant with fantastic national dishes and folk musicians Friday and Saturday evenings. To the right is the Taurunum Pogled (Unique Tower View) Pizzeria Terrace Café with a spectacular view over the Danube. And just down the street there is, among many others, the Šaran (Carp) Restaurant, renowned throughout Serbia for their fish dishes. The Carp Restaurant, just down the street from the Studio
Purchase as many lessons as you would like here, with the help of our retail partner, Stripe.com. If you qualify for a student discount, you will receive a 20% refund on this payment.
After registering, please return here to fill out the REGISTRATION QUESTIONNAIRE.
After you have completed your residency, please come back to fill out this FOLLOWUP QUESTIONNAIRE. This helps us evaluate your experience, tailor your ongoing regime to facilitate further progress, and fine-tune the structure of future institutes to better meet participants' needs.
Click on this link for an immersive view of the church.
ALAN FRASER
Canadian pianist Alan Fraser gives master classes and recitals worldwide and conducts ongoing research and refinement on the ideas put forth in his books
Cancellation Policy
If you must cancel your registration, reimbursement will be as follows: Cancellations more than two months before the residency commencement date: 100% reimbursement. Cancellations more than one month before the residency commencement opening date: 75% reimbursement. Cancellations more than two weeks before the residency commencement opening date: 50% reimbursement. Cancellations more than one week before the residency commencement opening date: 25% reimbursement. Cancellations less than one week before the residency commencement opening date: no reimbursement except in cases of doctor-certified illness or acts of God. We reserve the right to cancel the residency; in this event, all registration fees are fully refundable.
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