Professor Boris Berman Remote Masterclass
On 28 October 2010, Professor Boris Berman, head of the Piano Department at Yale University School of Music, presented a groundbreaking masterclass to 3rd year UQ Music piano students Michael Bradshaw and Oliver She. 
Presented in real-time using a Polycom video conference system especially enabled for music, the remote masterclass connected music performance rooms in Australia and America. Michael Bradshaw performed Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat minor Op. 26 and received immediate feedback on his playing from Berman.
Bradshaw commented on the remote masterclass:
"I was very impressed with the quality of the system. Visually, having the television screen to my left simulated a situation very similar to that of an actual lesson. Similarly, the audio was of a quality that was perfectly adequate for emulating a lesson. While it is obviously not quite the same as having the teacher right beside me, there was enough of a feeling of immediate contact with Professor Berman that most of the time I forgot that I was working with someone across the globe."
Dr. Liam Viney, Piano Performance Fellow in UQ Music worked with Professor Phil Long, Dr Alan Cody and colleagues from the University of Queensland Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology (CEIT) to arrange the remote masterclass. Dr. Viney said the students experienced everything they would in a face to face masterclass - "It was as good as having Professor Berman in the room".
