Alison Bowring

At Cardiff University, Alison won the concerto trials and the John Thomas award for postgraduate study, going on to perform Pierrot Lunaire at the Edinburgh Fringe with the Millennium ensemble. Highlights include a recording of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges for a televised animation with Opera Mint. 

She was subsequently invited to teach at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama specialising in harmony and ear-training. Alison has a particular interest in the development of keyboard choreography which avoids injury while accelerating the learning process. She is highly experienced in teaching blind pianists and students with dyslexia and dyspraxia, using unconventional methods of practice and problem-solving. 

Alison’s pupils have received numerous awards and distinctions in graded and diploma examinations. Several students achieved top accolades in national piano competitions including an unprecedented outright win at the National EPTA Piano Competition by a 9-year-old pupil. Every one of her students aspiring to study music at Oxford or the UK’s top conservatoires has been offered a place, frequently with a scholarship. 

Alison owes much to a three-year collaboration with esteemed Russian pedagogue Dr. Michael Schreider, who trained at the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatoires. She is in demand as a tutor, coaching teachers privately and giving seminars for Cardiff Music School, EPTA and the Suzuki method. At RWCMD her role includes ‘Practice Surgeries’, employing advanced problem-solving techniques. Alison writes for the EPTA Piano Professional magazine and she is currently working on a book outlining her unique approach to keyboard training.