Part of Chetham’s International Piano Summer School 2026.
Between Wednesday 12 – Saturday 22 August, Chetham’s International Piano Summer School brings world class and legendary musicians to a vibrant, supportive community in central Manchester, now celebrating it’s 25th anniversary year. Alongside lectures, open lessons and opportunities to develop new skills, you can discover a daily programme of recitals from world-class performers.
Seating for these events will be unallocated. If you have any access requirements, please do let us know at boxoffice@stollerhall.com or on 0333 130 0967. You can find out more about access in our building here. Our venue will be open half an hour before each public performance and will close in between performances.
Day Eight
Young Artist’s Recital, 1.45pm-2.30pm
Tickets £5.50. Students/U18 Free
Today we welcome three talented young pianists in an exciting programme.
Nadiia Dotsiak:
Victor KOSENKO Two Poem-Legends, Op. 12
Myroslav SKORYK Burlesque
Frederick Johnston:
PROKOFIEV Romeo and Juliet Op. 75: No. 6, The Montagues and the Capulets
York BOWEN 24 Preludes Op. 102: No. 7 in Eb Major
Takashi YOSHIMATSU Piano Folio… To a Disappeared Pleiad
Chiara Lordi:
LISZT Ballade No. 2
Piano Summer School Lecture – From Stress to Strength by Mookie Lee-Menuhin, 5.15pm-6pm
Tickets £11.50, Students/U18 £5.50
In today’s high-pressure world, many of us — musicians and non-musicians alike — live in a constant state of survival mode: stretched thin, always “on,” and striving to stay in control while feeling increasingly depleted.
With soaring levels of stress and burnout worldwide — and with musicians facing significantly higher rates of mental ill-health than the general population due to performance pressure, job insecurity, physical strain and a demanding culture that still clings to the myth of innate, immutable talent — this talk explores how we can move from stress to strength, from merely surviving to truly living.
Drawing on neuroscience and life on stage, concert pianist and cognitive neuroscientist Mookie Lee-Menuhin offers a different perspective. She discusses how awareness, connection, and meaning can shift our physiology, build resilience, and transform our relationship with ourselves and others even under stress and pressure. Backed with simple, science-based tools, she invites us to rethink stress and reimagine what is possible: not by avoiding difficulty, but by meeting it with presence and purpose.
A Recital by Joanna MacGregor, 7pm
Tickets £22.50, Students/U18 £5.50
‘MacGregor seems incapable of giving performances that are not at once extremely intelligent and entertaining’. – The Sunday Times
‘She is one of the most exciting and enterprising pianists of the moment.’ – The Observer
‘Joanna MacGregor’s career is practically built on a reinvention of the star virtuoso tradition… MacGregor’s verve, energy and astounding technique are always at the service of the music.’ – BBC Classical Review
Leonid DESYATNIKOV Songs of Bukovina
Leonid DESYATNIKOV 24 Preludes for Piano (2017)
A Recital with Piers Lane, 8.30pm
Tickets £22.50, Students/U18 £5.50
“No praise could be high enough for Piers Lane whose playing throughout is of a superb musical intelligence, sensitivity, and scintillating brilliance.” Bryce Morrison, Gramophone
We are thrilled that Piers is available to join us again at Chetham’s for a solo recital and teaching on the faculty.
Five times soloist at the BBC Proms, Piers Lane’s wide-ranging concerto repertoire exceeds one hundred works and has led to engagements with many of the world’s great orchestras, working recently with conductors like Sir Andrew Davis, Vassily Sinaisky, Gerard Schwartz and Brett Dean. Festival appearances have included Aldeburgh, Bard, Bath Mostly Mozart, Bergen, Cheltenham, Como Autumn Music, Prague Spring, Rockport, La Roque d’Anthéron, Ruhr Klavierfestival, Schloss vor Husum, Seattle and the Chopin festivals in Warsaw, Duszniki-Zdrój, Mallorca and Paris.
Peter TRANCHELL Seven Pieces
1. Peacock 2. Rainy Season Bird 3. Goat 4. Crane 5. Cuckoo 6. Frog 7. Elephant
CHOPIN Prelude in C# minor Op.45
CHOPIN 24 Preludes Op.28
