Excellence on the World's Stages
Alan Fraser Piano Institute Graduates
Over the years Alan has worked with dozens of pianists of every persuasion, every level of ability. Some of them have gone on to flourishing performing careers. Here are some of our most illustrious graduates.
Remon Holsbergen studied with Alan Fraser from 2015-2021. Here we see him accompanying the fine Dutch cellist Melle de Vries.
Another Dutch pianist, Rene Maurer has an active teaching and performing career. He has been working with Alan Fraser since 2012 when he attended the first Overveen institute.
Competition Prizewinners
The number of competition prizewinners passing through Alan's studio is steadily increasing.
We are pleased to showcase South African pianist Jan Hugo, who has attended several Paris institutes from 2016 onward. His performances at the semfinals of the 2017 Liszt competition have been special in many respects, one in that he was the only contestant to choose the new Chris Maene straight strung piano. Jan has done this wonderful instrument full justice, often using its magnificent register shifts to evoke the mystical, passionate aura of the great master himself.
Unfortunately the audio is not in sync with the video on these clips, but we feel this is no excuse not to offer you a taste of Jan's stellar playing.
LUBA PODGASKAYA Luba Podgaskaya first attended the Overveen Institute in 2015. A gifted pianist suffering from injury, in her work with Alan she quickly resolved the tendonitis issue and turned to more pressing matters: the soulful, artful, virtuosic treatment of the great masterworks of the repertoire. Luba soon caught the attention of several Dutch conductors, and in 2017 was invited to play the Rachmaninoff First Concerto, then the Schumann concerto, and finally the Mozart F major concerto with orchestra.
Michael Cheung attended the Paris April 2015 institute. In a remarkably short time he added a dimension of power and emotional subtlety to his playing that allowed h im to do well in three competitions later the same year.
He was the unanimous choice for first prize at the Boston Amateur Piano Competition in June, picked up no fewer than 5 first prizes at the Washington DC Amateur Piano Competion in July, and a second prize in the Chopin Amateur Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland in October.
Here is one of Michael's prize-winning performances in Boston:
Aurelien Bocdard hails from Geneva, Switzerland and lives in Kansas where he is completing his doctoral studies. He first attended the Salt Lake City institute in 2013. In that first year he resolved some pain issues; since then the work has focused on developing sonority and expressive depth. Aurelien won a National Collaborative Pianist award in 2015.
Jazz at the Institute
In addition to the many classical pianists Alan Fraser works with, some jazz pianists attend the Institute. Here are a few pianists "from the other side" who have benefitted from Alan Fraser's approach.
Hanno Beckers has been playing and composing jazz and pop/rock for several decades in Wuppertal, Germany, home of the famous Schwebebahn. He has also taught piano for almost as long, and has been of great assistance in developing Alan Fraser's Pianimals.
Chad Linsley is one of Montreal's pre-eminent jazz pianists, and has been featured on Mike Rudd's Juno Award-winning album, Notes from Montreal as well as on numerous albums by Juno Award-winning singer Ranee Lee. Check out his solo with Ranee at 3:20 - ebullient, dashing and eminently tasteful.
Johann Emet
Johann attended the 2012 Institute in Stuttgart and made great strides in no time at all.
Maya Alvanovich studied classical piano with Alan Fraser at the Art Academy of Novi Sad in the mid- 1990's. After completing her studies she launched a career in her own special brand of jazz. She has recorded several albums of her own material with the MayaMisty trio.
We are more than proud to be a part of music-making of such stellar calibre, and we welcome you to the Institute to become a part of it!