No two students will have the same reaction coming out of Simona Glavan’s lesson. “This is because each pianist has a different relationship with his instrument which is unique. My role is to teach my students technique, style, musical context, but most of all, help them develop and mature their own capacity of musical interpretation as opposed to imposing onto them my universe of perceptions which would be a big pedagogical mistake.”
On the definition of a piano lesson, Simona Glavan remains categorical in saying that it is a condensed version of a pianist’s study at home. “An efficient coach is one who can turn a student’s weakness into his biggest asset. My intimate conviction is that as long as we have not defined the difficulty, we cannot improve because we would not know where to start practicing. This is undeniably more easily said than done, many times we deceive ourselves, but all this is part of the wonderful process called experience. Sometimes we discover that the roads we take are far more interesting than the end result, happy as it may be.”
Simona Glavan teaches with humor and understanding, elegance and eloquence, a lot of patience and humility. “Teaching goes both ways. I like to think of it as helping a pupil at a certain point in time, but in the process of helping him, I have to have doubts, and I search my mind thousands of times in order to come up with the best solution. Nothing can ever be taken for granted. When a pupil comes in and plays, after having practiced for days, weeks, even months, he gives to the music and to the composer the best of himself, regardless of his level, and his work is sacred because it comes directly from his mind and soul, and out through his fingers!”
Simona Glavan has a very rich pedagogical activity: professor of piano and chamber music at the conservatory, master classes, and coach for international piano competitions.