Samantha Ege
Pianist & musicologist
To come across Armenian Gayane Chebotaryan was very exciting, as I do a lot of work on women composers. She wrote a set of Six Preludes, each one of which is based on an Armenian folksong. I have been listening to Hayk Melikyan’s recording of them obsessively – they are a snapshot of this folk sound which I am not that familiar with but somehow draws me in and inspires me to learn more.
My favourite performance of Doreen Carwithen’s Sonatina is by the British pianist Daniel Grimwood. Carwithen’s piano writing is so captivating – she is a real story-teller – and there is so much energy in Daniel’s performance. He really brings her voice to life. Carwithen is an incredible composer. I play some of her pieces myself, and she understands the geography of the instrument and the fingers so well. She writes perfectly.
Coleridge-Taylor’s is a piece I
