Piano man bowing out

By WILLIAM DART

I count myself fortunate to have experienced the fine musicianship of Bryan Sayer so often on the concert stage. These days he plays rarely - his involvement in John Rimmer's Galileo last year was a welcome surprise.

This quiet and generous man, who is about to retire from teaching at the University of Auckland, has touched generations of pianists and musicians with his taste and discernment.

Where did that come from? Perhaps it was growing up in Hastings and "going to every single event from bass Kim Borg to Bruce Mason's The End of the Golden Weather".

Later there was the guiding hand of Janetta McStay who "went to such pains to transfer her extraordinarily high standards of piano playing and music making to us".

There would be other teachers in London and Paris, including the legendary Vladimir Perlemuter. And, says Sayers, "I have always felt at home in French music. Many pianists don't know their way into it."

Looking back over three decades of teaching, Sayer is heartened by "the constant stream of remarkably talented young pianists who have come through my room, despite society's view that you should still do a 'proper' profession".

On Sunday, he gives a concert of duets and two-piano works with colleague Tamas Vesmas. Composers represented include Schubert, Britten, David Burge and a sampling from the French school, but with a difference. "It's an unexpected transcription of Schumann's Studies for Pedal Piano of Opus 56 - quintessential Schumann," chimes Sayer, "but given to us by Debussy."

Performance

* What: Duets & Duos with Tamas Vesmas and Bryan Sayer

* Where & when: Auckland University music theatre, Sunday 5pm