Sarah Nicolls: The Inside Out Piano
  • Monday 19 August 2019, 7pm
  • The Stoller Hall
  • £16-£11
Image Sarah Nicolls: The Inside Out Piano

“Nicolls is a genuinely ‘edgy Brit’, and what she does should be happening every week of the year”’ Guardian

Sarah Nicolls invented her unique ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to be able to play on the strings more easily. This means she can easily pluck, strum, play harmonics, knock percussively, use handheld objects to ‘prepare’ and strike the strings and combine all of this with regular piano keyboard playing. Once it was built, she discovered that the piano also had many other properties that were unexpected – most surprisingly, it could swing. This concert will include music from Sarah’s solo albums of her own compositions and the shows she has made with the piano, whilst also containing new pieces.

Sarah describes her music as ’simple melodies shrouded in strange sounds’ and she combines playing the keyboard and the strings with computer sounds and processing. There are a vast array of magical and unusual sounds to hear, and to see being created more clearly than on any other piano. This concert will seek to take the audience on the journey of discovery which Sarah herself has been on with this incredible instrument, hearing it both at its simplest and in its richest, with multi-layered textures. There may also be time to share some of the surprises too.

Sarah Nicolls: The Inside Out Piano
  • The Stoller Hall
  • £16-£11

“Nicolls is a genuinely ‘edgy Brit’, and what she does should be happening every week of the year”’ Guardian

Sarah Nicolls invented her unique ‘Inside-Out Piano’ to be able to play on the strings more easily. This means she can easily pluck, strum, play harmonics, knock percussively, use handheld objects to ‘prepare’ and strike the strings and combine all of this with regular piano keyboard playing. Once it was built, she discovered that the piano also had many other properties that were unexpected – most surprisingly, it could swing. This concert will include music from Sarah’s solo albums of her own compositions and the shows she has made with the piano, whilst also containing new pieces.

Sarah describes her music as ’simple melodies shrouded in strange sounds’ and she combines playing the keyboard and the strings with computer sounds and processing. There are a vast array of magical and unusual sounds to hear, and to see being created more clearly than on any other piano. This concert will seek to take the audience on the journey of discovery which Sarah herself has been on with this incredible instrument, hearing it both at its simplest and in its richest, with multi-layered textures. There may also be time to share some of the surprises too.

You may also like

  1. image Beethoven and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Special Lunchtime Concert Series
    Carole Nash Hall

    Beethoven and Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Special Lunchtime Concert Series

    Fri 31 March 2023, 1:30pm

    Chetham’s acclaimed Keyboard Department presents a special cycle of Friday Lunchtime Concerts – featuring of all 32 of Beethoven’s Piano...

  2. image Wind, Brass and Percussion Ensembles Concert
    The Stoller Hall

    Wind, Brass and Percussion Ensembles Concert

    Sat 22 April 2023, 7:30pm

    A concert featuring the collective talents of wind, brass and percussion students at Chetham’s.

  3. image Chetham’s Concerto Finals
    The Stoller Hall

    Chetham’s Concerto Finals

    Sun 23 April 2023, 11am

    The Chetham’s Concerto Competition grand final will see the finest young musicians from around the world perform in one of...

  4. image Vocal Leavers Concert
    The Stoller Hall

    Vocal Leavers Concert

    Mon 26 June 2023, 5:30pm

    A concert featuring end of year performances from our outgoing students at Chetham’s.