{"id":41,"date":"2015-09-30T13:56:02","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T12:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/188.166.168.151\/2015\/09\/30\/interview-with-martin-bartlett\/"},"modified":"2022-12-14T12:23:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T12:23:32","slug":"interview-with-martin-bartlett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/encoremusicians.com\/blog\/interview-with-martin-bartlett\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Martin James Bartlett"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Jonny Venvell sat down with Young Musician of the Year 2014 winner Martin James Bartlett<\/a> to discuss his life so far as a concert pianist<\/a>, the importance of music education today, and how to bluff your way through Messiaen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Martin offers me a warm greeting as I duck out of a biblically wet London afternoon into the comforting fug of Gordon\u2019s Wine Bar. As he orders his beverage of choice (\u2018Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, please\u2019) I\u2019m immediately struck by an assurance and maturity that would not usually befit a student of nineteen. But really I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised: not many students can claim to have recently held court with the likes of Jeremy Corbyn, Yo-Yo Ma, and David Attenborough (\u2018he asked me about music and I asked him about monkeys!\u2019). Wine in hand, we grab a quiet table and begin at the beginning.<\/p>\n

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Hailing from the quiet suburban town of Hornchurch in Havering, Bartlett began his journey into music under the influence of his mother, the sound of whose piano teaching filled his childhood home. With her encouragement, Martin went on to excel not only at piano but also bassoon and recorder, achieving Grade 8 in all three instruments by the age of 12. Since then he has studied at the Purcell School and is now in his second year as an undergraduate at the Royal College of Music.<\/p>\n

So what does piano practice look like for a concert pianist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technical \u00e9tudes can be useful as a starting point but I think that the best thing to do is to go through lots of new repertoire and to learn as many pieces as possible. There\u2019s no point in playing scales all day; it will help to a certain extent but once you realise what\u2019s behind the music then the technique comes more naturally.<\/p>\n

Do you intend to specialise in a particular area of the piano repertoire?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think its possible to switch between styles and at the moment I\u2019m just playing as much repertoire as possible. If I had to choose a particular composer to specialise in it would probably be Bach. But really I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to the piano repertoire. That\u2019s why I decided to take it up over the recorder and bassoon in the first place.<\/p>\n