We hosted a fascinating piano masterclass in the Chapel on Thursday 14 June, as part of this year’s Hertfordshire Festival of Music programme.

The session was led by the festival’s Principal Artist, Katya Apekisheva. Described as a 'profoundly gifted artist' by Gramophone magazine, Katya has earned her place as one of Europe's most renowned and gifted pianists, and she certainly demonstrated her exquisite musicality in the demonstrations of technique and expression she offered.

But the real stars of the evening were the visiting students, who had the opportunity to perform in public the solo and duet pieces they have been working on in the practice room. Each highly skillful performer showed immense bravery, and they all benefited enormously from Katya’s incisive comments.

Katya can be seen in recital with her duet partner Charles Owen at the festival finale on Saturday 16 June at 6.00pm in All Saints Church, Hertford, where she will be performing a programme of Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Jonathan Dove.

Through our association with the Hertfordshire Festival over the last four years, we have welcomed such luminaries as violinists Tamsin Little and Chloe Hanslip, clarinettist Emma Johnson, french horn player Ben Goldscheider, and Judith Weir (Master of the King’s Music) and distinguished composer James Francis Brown (co-founder of the Festival).