Music teacher hits all the right notes

Jane Ford, a music teacher at Ockbrook School, jumped at the invitation from producer Steve Plews of record company Prima Facie to capture John McCabe’s complete works.

Described by The Times as ‘gifted’, Jane shares a joint admiration with Steve for the work of this leading British composer.

Jane said: “Steve and I first met last summer, so it was an honour to be asked to record John McCabe’s magnificent piano works.

“John has served as an inspiration to many, so Steve and I wanted to recognise his brilliance and decided a CD of his complete piano works would be a worthy honour. The fact John’s wife Monica was also supportive of the project was the icing on the cake.”

Monica McCabe was overwhelmed by the result, and said: “I played the CD, and I have to say I was absolutely delighted. In fact, I played it again immediately.

“There are touches in Jane’s performance that I love. Some of the interpretations are a little different from the ones I knew from John, but he was never a composer for leaning over someone’s shoulder and saying ‘it’s supposed to go like this!’ Thank you Jane and Steve for all you have done.”

Along with numerous prizes at international competitions, Jane’s extensive performing career has included performances throughout Britain and abroad. All before she began offering lessons to the students at Ockbrook School 12 years ago, many whom have also gone on to receive awards, including at the Derby Arts Festival.

John McCabe CBE was a British composer and pianist. He composed works in symphonies, concertos and major ballets and also pursued a busy solo career as a pianist, making many records including the complete solo piano music of Haydn. He served as principal of the London College of Music from 1983 to 1990 For more visit: www.johnmccabe.com.

The CD will be released in the new year, but fans can buy advance copies from Prima Facie’s website http://ascrecords.com/primafacie.