Piano

IRENE LAU ARAM. LRAM. LRSM. FTCL. - PIANO

Irene Lau was born in Wellington.  She began lessons in Wellington and furthered her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.  Upon graduating she became a lecturer at the Coventry School of Music.

As a student she gained numerous piano awards and in 2001 Irene was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.  This award honours past students for achieving distinction in their profession. 

On her return to New Zealand, she became an itinerant specialist teacher at several Wellington colleges, teaching piano, coaching Chamber Music, accompanying and helping examine NCEA performances.  Irene derives much pleasure from working with young people.

MERYN  HICKMAN LRSM.  Dip Tchng.  AIRMT. - PIANO

Meryn has been teaching piano at Marsden for many years and also has a private teaching practice in Karori. She is a trained Primary School teacher and also a registered music teacher.

Meryn is a member of the Wellington Branch Regional Music Teachers' committee who organise seminars, workshops, and master classes for the on-going education of teachers and their students.

She enjoys teaching piano and theory and encourages her students to have an awareness and love of piano and the wider world of music.

DR RACHEL THOMSON DMA, FTCL, LRSM, BA, AIRMT - PIANO

Rachel Thomson was born in Dunedin, and grew up in Wellington where she began her piano studies with her mother. She went on to study with Judith Clark, graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a BMus (Hons) in 1991, and a BA in English Literature in 1993. With assistance from Fulbright and the QEII Arts Council she continued her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the United States, where she gained a doctorate in piano performance.

Rachel has won various awards and competitions at home and in the USA, including the New Zealand National Concerto Competition (1993) and the MTNA Collegiate Piano Competition (East Central Division USA, 1997). Since her return to New Zealand in 1997, Rachel has performed with some of the country's leading musicians. She has toured for Chamber Music New Zealand and is a national recording artist for Radio New Zealand Concert. She is a member of the chamber ensemble Ethos, as well as occasionally working as a pianist for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.