I took lessons from Dr. Perrey from June 1997 to June 1998 in preparation for the entrance examinations at, among others, the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Dr. Perrey's enthusiasm and dedication to music radiated from every lesson, leaving me each time with the conviction that making music is one of the greatest joys in life. In addition, her coaching in specific skills, such as the visualisation and internalisation of the music (Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 110) and the meticulous shaping of the musical line (Bach's Sinfonia no. 9), are still crystal clear, even after twelve years!

Her positive encouragement, motivating lessons and support formed the foundation for the successful start of my professional music education.

Sharon Stewart

Music Instructor, HKU, Utrecht, NL

MA, Music Pedagogy, Royal Conservatoire, Den Haag, Netherlands

Isa came to Beate from a Suzuki background, with an intense interest in piano, a love of music and a fairly well developed ear, but weak reading skills.  Rather than fixate on this shortcoming as other instructors might have done, Beate took Isa’s varied skill set in stride, certain that if Isa’s love of music were nurtured, her theoretical skills would catch up.  Beate’s own tie to music is intense and her emphasis is very much on deepening her students’ relationship with music. This clearly is what worked for Isa, whose enthusiasm increased steadily alongside her technical abilities while preparing pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, but also music of a more popular flavour such as Tango! 

Beate’s joy in music is apparent from the moment she is in the room with her piano.   She communicates to the student what she likes and what she doesn’t like in a very professional way, with enough emotional intelligence that the student doesn’t feel either a made into a genius or personally attacked.  As Isa says, “She doesn’t sugar coat it when I play well, and she doesn’t make too much of things when I play less well, either.”

Beate is fully present during lessons and constantly considering ways in which to bring the student closer to the music.  During an early lesson, when Isa was having difficulty hitting the keys with the appropriate force, Beate surprised her by hopping up and dismantling her beautiful grand piano to show her how the mechanism worked.  Their lessons are filled with laughter, humor, and even dancing.  When Isa became involved in theater, Beate began working with her on ways to incorporate her theater experiences into her music, even attending a theater workshop to see some of these techniques in action.

When Isa began lessons with Beate three years ago, she had been taking weekly piano lessons for six years.  Although she enjoyed piano, her interest was flagging a bit.  After working with Beate, her interest in piano and music in general was recharged to the extent that she started taking two lessons per week.  She is now fully engaged and committed to her piano studies. 

Young students usually do not have access to instructors of such caliber as is Beate’s case and Isa is well aware of her good fortune.  Beate is an accomplished, passionate musician, as well as a scholar which, coupled with her love of music and her interest in nurturing this devotion in others, is a rare combination indeed. 

K-Rae Nelson, mother of Isabelle, 14, three of years of piano lessons

 Témoignage 2

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I have had the tremendous pleasure of knowing Beate Perrey for five years now and have nothing but admiration and praise for her. She comes from an outstanding musical background and is an extremely gifted musician. Beate has an impressive intellectual understanding of music, but it is her warmth and sensitivity that are her most evident qualities, and which make her such a fine teacher. She has an intuitive sensitivity towards her students that allows her to find exactly the right approach to bring the best out of them. She is endlessly supportive, and yet she always ensures that her pupils are challenged and encouraged in equal measure. The experience of working with Beate is sheer delight as well as intensely inspiring due to her unique combination of good humour, patience and passion for music.

Victoria Best, writer, university professor, piano lover