Dr Liam Viney has a truly international view of music, studying with a famous Russian teacher at Yale, teaching in California and performing in Europe.
Now he is back in Australia, ready to share his skill and experience with students at The University of Queensland.
Dr Viney is the new Piano Performance Fellow at UQ’s School of Music and has joined the school’s ensemble in residence.
A love of music, an appreciation of the whole spectrum of genres and a wide range of skills are what Dr Viney hopes to instill in his UQ students.
Dr Viney hoped his teaching would give students “a lifelong relationship with music that grows deeper over time” while arming them with the skills and versatility to make it in a musical career.
“I would like to attract creative young people to UQ who want to learn to be versatile musicians and truly be prepared for careers in this very competitive field,” he said.
“This can include re-imagining a broader concept of being a pianist than the typical dream of being soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic playing Tchaikovsky.
“While we do train pianists in that mould as well, I like to remind students that the piano can be used in so many different settings.
“At UQ I hope to encourage serious chamber pianists to explore their craft, as well as pianists who love new music by living composers.
“Participating in the creation of new musical work by helping composers create new sounds for your instrument is a phenomenally exciting part of being a musician.”
After studying at Yale under renowned teacher Boris Berman, Dr Viney taught at Yale as well as the California Institute of the Arts, and performed in the US, Europe, Israel and Australia.
He also won the 2001 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and recorded solo work for Australian radio programs.
His return to Australia allowed him to share his knowledge and experience with young up-and-coming musicians.
“As an Australian musician I feel a desire to give something back to the musical culture that fundamentally shaped me.
“The idea is to create artistic or performance music which can constitute new knowledge. It can be an important contribution to the humanities.
“In some ways, the whole point of music is to pick up where words leave off. Music deserves to be recognized as a unique form of knowledge.
“I believe we are more and more open-minded in listening to music today. We can embrace all kinds of music.
“Music connects to something fundamental about being alive. It captures everything about being alive in a beautiful way. Even if it is about something unhappy it is beautiful.”
Dr Viney’s two-year-old son Alex had grown up around music and could now sit through a Beethoven concerto without growing restless.
But Dr Viney and his wife, pianist Anna Grinberg, have no wish to push Alex and six-month-old daughter Tema into a life of music.
“We would like them to love music in the same way they will hopefully love literature, nature, or art. But in terms of career, it’s up to them to find out what will make them fulfilled. ”
Media: Erik de Wit (3346 7086).
