Ask them to be great. Provide them with the most rigorous education. Hold students of all ages to the highest standards of uncompromising excellence. Inspire them to be artists who can move hearts, enlighten minds, cross boundaries, and bridge divides. Show them how exceptional musicians must also be exceptional human beings.
Then ask them to be leaders. Motivate them to walk not just the well-trod paths but to blaze new ones, forging opportunities for themselves and others as they go. Provoke them, as they’re learning and refining musical skills, to consider where those skills can take them.
Nurture collaboration, since great leaders must also be great listeners. Focus on chamber music where, in the absence of a conductor, students must assume the responsibility for finding their own voices.
Instil an entrepreneurial spirit and build critical thinking skills in students to match their musical abilities. Teach them how to start a slow movement one day, to launch a concert series the next and to perform in concert halls, clubs, and anywhere they can find a hungry audience.
Inspire students at every level to dream of how their music can transform their lives and the lives of others. Help them to articulate their dreams and then put them into practice. Create partnerships with businesses, schools, and neighbours where students can test their ideas in the real world.
Create an environment for incubation — a place where great musicians and great ideas can be cultivated. Make it a diverse place where difference can broaden minds and enlarge perspectives. Keep it intimate, so individual attention is guaranteed. Prize collaboration and creativity as highly as musical prowess. Encourage every student to ask their peers — “How can I help you achieve your dreams?”
This is how Kensington Piano Lessons will prepare musicians to make a difference in the world: by establishing a new model for music education. An education that teaches students of all ages to be extraordinary musicians and human beings, while challenging them to find new ways to change the world through music.
