June 6-8: Kunstgebouw Leusden, the Netherlands
We are pleased to confirm Whitsunday weekend at the beginning of June for the 2025 Leusden Institute.
The Leusden Music School is just a half hour east of Amsterdam by train, on the outskirts of Amersfoort. With plenty of piano practice rooms, the school offers you a base from which you can combine piano studies with a vacation in one of Europe's most vibrant cities. Don't miss this institute!
Kunstgebouw Leusden students and staff are welcome to audit the institute at no charge, and receive a 35% discount for active participation.
Alan teaches in English or French, with Dutch translation available.
Open to All Interested Pianists
Many relatively inexperienced pianists hesitate to attend an institute, feeling they are not good enough or not well-enough prepared. However, we are here to learn. Alan's approach can help all of us, no matter what our ability, no matter what the state of our program. The Institute really is open to all interested pianists:
- professionals who wish to hone their skills to the highest possible level
- students who wish to improve their sound, agility and musicianship
- teachers who seek new tools for work with their students
- amateurs who wish to feel more in command of the instrument.
Learning From Each Other
There is no limit to improvement - and everyone benefits from watching the other lessons. Advanced pianists learn something from lessons with the less gifted pianists - for instance, how to work with their own students - and the amateur pianists get a special pleasure out of watching Alan tell the professionals the same things they've been hearing: "Grow that hand arch more! More lateral arm movements to shape the phrase!" It's always about unlocking the hidden blocks to movement within, no matter what your level of ability.
Singers & Instrumentalists Welcome Too
Alan's Feldenkrais-informed approach to performance also helps instrumentalists and vocalists transform their sound by making minute postural adjustments that release hidden physical blocks. If you have a friend or colleague with a specific performance issue, invite them to come along - they'll be glad you did.
INSTITUTE LESSON RECORDINGS
All lessons are recorded on video (unless the participant requests otherwise), and are stored in the Institute video library at pianotechniqe.org. There is a small subscription fee for this service, separate from the institute registration fee, but it is well worth it. Every lesson is packed full of information and experience, and it is in the review process that participants often report their greatest progress, their most impressive breakthroughs. Subscribers also have access to tutorial series curated especially for pianotechnique.org, and to their own personal libraries where all their lesson videos are gathered in one convenient place - making the review process even more rewarding. Participants receive instructions by email following the institute for video access to their lessons, ATMs and ATPMs.
Schedule
The schedule may be modified according to the makeup and needs of the group.
| FRIDAY SCHEDULE | |
|---|---|
| 17:00-21:00 | Pre-Institute Private Individual Lessons |
| SATURDAY SCHEDULE | |
|---|---|
| 8:30-9:00 | Coffee & Registration |
| 9:00-9:30 | Opening Session - Exchange |
| 9:30-11:00 | 2 Individual Lessons |
| 11:00-12:30 | Group Awareness Through Movement (ATM) Please bring your own yoga mat for this lesson. |
| 12:30-14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00-15:30 | 2 Individual Lessons |
| 15:30-16:15 | Coffee - Awareness Through Piano Movement (ATPM) |
| 16:15-18:30 | Remaining Lessons |
| SUNDAY SCHEDULE | |
|---|---|
| 8:45-11:00 | 3 Individual Lessons |
| 12:00-13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30-14:15 | Group ATPM |
| 14:15-16:30 | 3 Individal Lessons |
| 16:30-18:00 | Remaining Lessons; preparation for evening recital |
| 18:00-19:00 | Closing recital at a farmhouse just outside of Leusden |
| 19:00-21:00 | Evening meal, closing session at the farmhouse |
There will be a €12.50 charge for the celebratory evening meal following the Sunday evening recital.
Participants will be invited to select from this list of lecture topics for the daily seminar-ATPM:
| POSSIBLE ATPM TOPICS | |
|---|---|
| Hand Structure & Function | The Celestial Hand Arch - The Voice of the Piano |
| Weight Technique | Arm Weight, the Anti-Gravity Function, Elasticity and Biotensegrity |
| The Thumb | I Pass And Do Not Pass The Thumb Under: It's Complicated. |
| Rotation | Rotation at the Micro and Macro Levels |
| The Hand as a Mini-Body | Lying, Standing, Walking & Running: Organic Development of the Hand on the Keyboard |
| Pianimals | Use The Pianimals Exercises & Compositions in your Teaching and your Playing |
| Musicianship & Technique | Physical Strategies to Enhance Phrase, Polyphony & Orchestration |
| Feldenkrais & Piano | Expressively Directed Micro-Timing: A New Musical Aesthetic |
| Q & A | Which Aspects of Piano Somatics Intrigue You... Frustrate You... Mystify You... Satisfy You? |
Travel
Getting There
Click here for travelling directions to:
Kunstgebouw Leusden
Eikenlaan 1,
3831 XD Leusden
(Amersfoort)
Accommodation
Lodging
There are several accommodation options in the Amersfoort area.
- To book a hotel we recommend Booking.com.
- www.airbnb.com also offers several listings. Book early to get the best choice and the best price.
MEALS
Frits has very kindly offered to provide a light lunch each day. There will also be coffee, tea and cookies throughout the day. There is a small charge of €10.00 per day to cover shopping costs, to be paid at the institute. And as mentioned above, there will be an additional €12.50 charge for the celebratory evening meal following the Sunday evening recital.
Register
Fees & Registration
- Active participants have a daily individual lesson, daily group ATM and ATPM lessons, daily seminar lectures, and observe all other lessons.
- Passive participants take part fully in all activities but receive no individual lesson.
COMBINE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE DAYS
- If you want to take full advantage of Alan's presence in Leusden, book two active days.
- If two lessons over two days is too intense for you, book only one active day, and attend the other day as an auditor. To combine active and passive registrations, hit the back button on your browser to add another purchase item to the same payment procedure. For instance, if you want to attend both days but only have one individual lesson, purchase one Active Participant day and one Passive Participant day for a total of two.
At completion of your registration, please return here to fill out the PARTICIPANT QUESTIONNAIRE, indicating which institute you will be attending (Leusden), and what days.
Click on your preferred option below to pay by credit card at our retail partner, Stripe.com.
Contact us for other registration options
If you have a particular registration request, for instance to book extra pre- or post-institute private lessons, or to receive a partial scholarship, please contact Frits Kroese or Nina Nikolich. They will answer all your questions and do their best to meet your specific needs.
Before & After the Institute
Information Sheet & Followup Questionnaire
We'd like to get to know you better. After registration, please come back to fill out this PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FORM.
After you've completed your institute, we'd like to keep in touch. Please return here to fill out the INSTITUTE FOLLOWUP QUESTIONNAIRE. This helps you and us to evaluate your experience, plan your ongoing regime for further pianistic advances, and fine-tune the institute structure to better meet your needs.
Contact
About Us - Contact
About Us - Contact
Canadian pianist Alan Fraser gives master classes and recitals worldwide and conducts ongoing research and refinement on the ideas put forth in his books:
- The Craft of Piano Playing (also in DVD),
- Honing the Pianistic Self-Image
- All Thumbs: Well-Coordinated Piano Technique
- Pianimals: 28 Feldenkrais Lessons for the Beginning Pianist's Hand
- Skeletal Wisdom: Mind & Body Reunited in the Feldenkrais Method
- Play the Piano with Your Whole Self
He is at work on several new volumes. Visit here for more on Alan Fraser.
If you would like to discuss your participation in an institute directly with Alan, feel free to send him an email.
FRITS KROESE
Pianist and pedagogue Frits Kroese is a long-standing resident of Leusden. He teaches at Scholen in de Kunst in the Eemhuis Amersfoort, is actively involved in the Academy for Music for talented pupils, and gives recitals regularly. He first attended Alan Fraser's Piano Somatics Institute in 2015.
Frits's contact information: Email Frits
Cancellation Policy
If you must cancel your registration, reimbursement will be as follows:
Cancellations more than two months before Institute opening date: 100% reimbursement.
Cancellations more than one month before Institute opening date: 75% reimbursement.
Cancellations more than two weeks before Institute opening date: 50% reimbursement.
Cancellations more than one week before Institute opening date: 25% reimbursement.
Cancellations less than one week before Institute opening date: no reimbursement.
We reserve the right to cancel the institute due to insufficient enrolment; in this event, all registration fees are fully refundable.