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The English pianist and teacher, Vanessa Jayne Latarche, won Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied Kendall Taylor from 1977 to 1982.She completing her training in the USA and Paris. She was a prize-winner in several international piano competitions and scholarships.
Vanessa Latarche's career as a pianist has been interestingly varied. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra and Bournemouth Sinfonietta. Her recital work has taken her to Europe, the USA and the Far East, as well as many festivals within the UK. She has given recital and concerto appearances at Harrogate International Festival, Battle Festival, various music clubs and concert halls throughout the UK including Fairfield Halls, Croydon, Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, London. She has broadcast numerous recitals for BBC Radio 3, the most recent recital of works by Gabriel Fauré and Frédéric Chopin was relayed live from St. George’s Brandon Hill, Bristol. She has also made a study of less well-known piano works of Felix Mendelssohn, which are recorded on CD. Other broadcasts have been for the BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, BBC TV and Cable TV in USA.
Vanessa Latarche's love of chamber music has involved her partnering many well-established artists over the years including Michael Collins, Isabelle van Keulen, Tasmin Little, Wissam Boustany and John Amis. Internationally she has toured Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Canada, Italy and Ireland. In 1992 her recital in Madrid for the 15th World Energy Conference led to her nomination as a finalist in the Cosmopolitan "Women of Achievement Award".
Vanessa Latarche has a strong commitment to teaching. She was a piano teacher at Purcell School, piano teacher at Junior Department of Royal College of Music, and professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London for 14 years (1992-2005), where she was made an Honorary Associate in 1997. She is now Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal College of Music in London. An examiner and lecturer for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music since 1991, Vanessa is now a diploma examiner, a moderator, and a trainer of new examiners. She was a judge in the BBC Young Musicians 1998 contest, and in 2006 was a judge in the semi-final of Young Musician of the Year. She was a judge also in other international competitions. She is also a founder member of “Children Helping Children’s Concerts” raising money for children’s charities.
Vanessa Latarche's honours include: English Speaking Union/Mayer Scholarship to Aspen Summer Festival, USA, 1982; Martin Musical Scholarship Fund Award to study with Vlado Perlemuter in Paris, and Alexander Kelly in London, 1983; Usa Fuchsova Prize for Chamber Music Pianist; Eric Rice Memorial Prize for an Accompanist, Royal Overseas League Competition, 1984. She is a member of Incorporated Society of Musicians; Musicians Union; Ealing and District Music Teachers' Society. |
