Friends of the Team of Pianists
An Invitation from the President of the Friends of the Team of Pianists...
The aim of the Friends is to support the Team of Pianists by directly assisting the Team, helping to promote its activities and building membership of the Friends. Members receive discounts for some Team events such as masterclasses and lectures and will be invited to join in social and educational activities organised specifically for the Friends. The Friends also coordinate 'Friends Play for Friends', a group of members who are pianists who get together informally in members' homes to perform for each other. There are opportunities to meet the Team and other performers plus regular newsletters. New members also receive a free CD featuring recitals from the biennial Australian National Piano Award in Shepparton.
To join the Friends of the Team of Pianists, please download the Fotops Membership Brochure. This contains an invitation from the President, details the objectives and benefits of FOTOPS membership, has Committee contact details for further information and includes your application form and methods of payment for your membership.
Alternatively, please send an email to: friendsoftop333@gmail.com or talk to one of the committee members at a Team of Pianists event.
Committee of the Friends of the Team of Pianists:
- Dr Deborah Jackson (President)
- Mario Anders (Treasurer & Secretary)
- Vincent Tarin (Vice-President)
- Teri Brugman
- Clive Jackson
- Leona Jorgensen
- Yani Lam
- Alistair Maule
FOTOPS Hammer Memorabilia Project
Individually mounted and framed hammers from the late Max Cooke's final Bösendorfer grand piano, as used by so many of his talented protégés, are available for purchase as part of a 2022 fund-raising project, to help perpetuate Max Cooke's generosity towards young pianists, with events such as the Spring Piano School. These will be on display and for sale at various recitals in the Rigg Bequest Classic Music in Historic Venues 2022 - 24 concert series.
The text in the frame reads: "This hammer, from Max Cooke's Bösendorfer grand piano, has experienced countless hours of use under the hands of a new generation of pianists, who captivate us with their performances both today and into the future".
Regular Newsletter for Members
Feel free to download some newsletters from past years:
Upcoming Events
Rigg Bequest Classic Music 2026 - in Special and Sacred Spaces
Through Forest and Flame: Lieder and Love
Experience a nineteenth-century world of musical fantasy in the bluestone grandeur of Melbourne's 1874 German Lutheran Church, East Melbourne, with tenor Michael Petruccelli, mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell and Team partner Darryl Coote at the piano.
The program includes Schumann’s song cycle Liederkreis Op 24, Wagner’s iconic Wesendonck Lieder, the world premiere of New Zealand composer Andrew Perkins’ Pax Vobiscum, a duet for mezzo-soprano and tenor composed specially for Sally-Anne Russell, as well as by Darryl Coote’s performance of Schumann’s Arabesque for piano Op 18.
Join other audience members and the artists for interval refreshments hosted by the Friends of the Team of Pianists.
Download the flyer here.
Don't miss this evening of vocal excellence from three of Australia's most experienced Lieder interpreters.
Date and Time
Sunday May 3, 2026 at 6.30pm
German Lutheran Church
(Deutsche Evangelische Dreifaltigkeitskirche)
22 Parliament Place, East Melbourne, VIC, 3002
Major sponsor: Colin & Cicely Rigg Bequest, as managed by Equity Trustees.
Rigg Bequest Classic Music 2026 - in Special and Sacred Spaces
Across Time and Tradition: Music for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano
Robert Schubert - clarinet, Matthew Angus - bassoon, and Robert Chamberlain - piano, trace a musical journey that spans centuries, styles and cultures, in the warm acoustics of St John's Anglican Church, Camberwell.
Uniting Classical clarity, Romantic lyricism and contemporary re‑imagining, this program ranges from the intimate poetry of Schumann’s Abegg Variations and Glinka’s enthralling Trio Pathétique, to the elegant conversational forms of Lefèvre and Kreutzer, where clarinet and bassoon speak with wit, balance and grace. These European traditions are refracted through the voice of Australian‑Chinese composer Julian Yu, whose reworking of Glinka’s Romance and vivid Uygur Dance bring folk melody and cross‑cultural perspective into the present.
Join other audience members and the artists for post-concert refreshments hosted by the Friends of the Team of Pianists.
This program celebrates the enduring power of wind instruments to sing, converse and dance across time, tradition and place.
Date and Time
Thursday May 21, 2026 at 7.00pm
St John's Anglican Church
552 Burke Road
Camberwell, VIC, 3124
Major sponsor: Colin & Cicely Rigg Bequest, as managed by Equity Trustees.
Rigg Bequest Classic Music 2026 - in Special and Sacred Spaces
Carnival of Oboe and Piano
Anne Gilby - oboe, Darryl Coote - piano, present works ranging from the elegance of Mozart’s concert aria 'Ah se in ciel, benigne stelle' to the shimmering colours of Ravel’s Sonatine, arranged for these two instruments, plus the smoky intimacy of Piazzolla’s Oblivion and the wit of Malcolm Arnold’s Sonatina for oboe and piano.
After interval, brilliant solo pianist Kevin Suherman performs works by Schumann and Liszt: Liszt's rapturous arrangement of Schumann's 'Widmung' (Dedication) and the kaleidoscopic scenes of Schumann’s Carnaval Op. 9. Don't miss this evening of colour, lyricism, and theatrical flair in the warm acoustics of St John's Anglican Church, Camberwell.
Join other audience members and the artists for post-concert refreshments hosted by the Friends of the Team of Pianists.
Date and Time
Thursday June 25, 2026 at 7.00pm
St John's Anglican Church
552 Burke Road
Camberwell, VIC, 3124
Major sponsor: Colin & Cicely Rigg Bequest, as managed by Equity Trustees.