About EPTA

MISSION STATEMENT

EPTA (UK)'s purpose is to raise the standard of piano teaching, piano performance and general musicianship in the UK by providing opportunities for piano teachers, pianists and other interested parties

- to exchange ideas
- to learn from others
- to share the experience of high quality performances
- to initiate and encourage research
- to share information through meetings, seminars, courses, conferences, reference facilities, helplines and printed publications and a website.

VISION

EPTA (UK) seeks to encourage:
- excellence in piano teaching and performance
- thorough training of all piano teachers in both the pedagogical and musical aspects of their profession
- recognition of such training by the award of an appropriate qualification
- recognition, by parents and students, of such a qualification as a minimum standard for anyone setting up a piano teaching practice
- continuing engagement with professional development
- a proper perspective in the use of examination systems
- wider participation, especially among young people, in playing the piano
- greater opportunity for performance both solo and ensemble
- increased access to concerts and recitals in all ways, e.g. locality, transport, cost, frequency
- the promotion of piano performance, at all levels, and from all sources
- increased discrimination among audiences over the quality of performances
- greater recognition for their achievement for those who perform well at whatever level
- wider acceptance of the educational value of learning to play an instrument, in particular an instrument on which harmonic structures can be explored
- wider acceptance of the value of learning to compose, and of such musical skills as sight playing, ear playing, memorizing, improvising, and other skills involved in accompanying and ensemble playing
- a growing repertoire of high quality music for pianists of all levels.

AIMS

EPTA (UK) aims to fulfill its mission by:
- promoting conferences, concerts, lectures, seminars, masterclasses, workshops and other events
- producing a professional magazine, a Members' Handbook and other printed publications
- maintaining a website
- mounting courses for established teachers and advanced students
- organising competitions for performers and for composers
- liaising with other organisations sharing EPTA's concerns
- promoting research into piano teaching and playing
- offering bursaries to talented pupils in need of assistance
- offering awards at festivals
- expanding its regional network and supporting the work of regional organisers
- fostering a sense of professionalism among its members and seeking to raise the status of the profession
- assisting members in their professional practice through advice notes, helplines and other benefits
- encouraging the work of 'EPTA Young Artists'
- providing a mentoring system for teachers
- contributing to national debates on musical and educational issues
- establishing a reference library of audio and video recordings, books and other printed materials relating to the keyboard
- liaising with other organisations which share EPTA's concerns
- raising funds, and seeking external funding, to assist in the implementation of these aims.

For further information about EPTA and to join, click here . Information about EPTA courses is available here.