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Piano professor Penelope Roskell has been appointed as the new Chair of EPTA UK (European Piano Teachers Association). She has also won the Presto Music Award for Best Educational Publication 2023 for her new children’s books, the Essential Piano Technique series, which were first launched at Trinity Laban.

Our professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy Penelope Roskell has recently been appointed Chair of EPTA UK. Having actively participated in conferences, webinars, and the EPTA competition, she has been a member of the EPTA for over 40 years and was previously Director of the EPTA Piano Pedagogy course. Penelope is also a renowned author, having released the award-winning book The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural artistry, published by Peters Edition. This December, her series Essential Piano Technique has been awarded Education Publication of the Year in the Presto Music awards. Providing a strong foundation of healthy technique, her series helps young pianists to progress rapidly and confidently through the early stages of piano playing. Presto music were impressed with “its fresh, unique style, as well as its appealing and original content”, thus affirming Penelope’s status as one of the world’s leading authorities in natural and healthy piano technique.

Penelope Roskell is an extremely dedicated, inspiring teacher, who aims to guide each individual student to reach their full potential as a pianist – both musically and technically – and as an artist in the broadest sense. She is extremely experienced in all aspects of advanced teaching, having taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level for thirty years. She was a professor of Piano at the London College of Music from 1982 until 1999, when she moved to Trinity College of Music. Alongside her piano teaching, she is involved in examining and auditioning, while running regular classes on piano pedagogy. She frequently gives masterclasses at UK and conservatories abroad, and has taught regular postgraduate classes at the Royal Academy of Music. A resident at many summer schools including Chetham’s and Dartington International Summer School, she has been on the jury for major competitions, including BBC Young Musician of the Year. Her London Advanced Piano Courses, run under the Roskell Academy, attract students from all over the world. Penelope also works as piano advisor to the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, where she holds a clinic for pianists experiencing tension or injuries.

Penelope combines an international performing career with her professorship at Trinity Laban and her role as visiting artist at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She has performed as soloist at major concert halls through Britain, including the Barbican Concert Hall and Wigmore Hall, but has also toured worldwide. Her first prize at the British Contemporary Piano Competition resulted in numerous invitations to festivals of contemporary music, including eight recitals in Hans Werner Henze’s festivals in Montepulciano and Munich. She has played Mozart Concertos with numerous orchestras, including the London Mozart Players at the Barbican Concert Hall and on tour with Sir Simon Rattle. A committed chamber musician, she regularly plays piano quintets with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet and the Roskell Piano Trio. At Trinity Laban, she founded Meridian – a piano and wind ensemble featuring TL professors. Her work with dance companies has included a season of solo performances with Twyla Tharp Dance Company at Sadlers Wells.