Welcome to GeoffreyDancer.com
The Geoffrey Dancer Memorial Fund
The fund has been set up by Geoff's family with Emanuel School, Wandsworth in memory of his musical life. Geoff taught at the school for many years and we hope to raise funds through charitable donations on an annual basis and award the Geoffrey Dancer Prize to a young talented pianist each year.
The first Geoffrey Dancer Music Prize will be awarded to a very talented young female pianist at Emanuel School who is currently in year 11. She has already won the overall prize in the school's instrumental competition and achieved Grade 8 piano, Grade 4 organ, Grade 7 violin and singing grade 8. A worthy recipient of the award for 2009-2010.
With current funds we will be able to send the winner on a music summer school at Dartington Hall and afford similar prizes for many years to come.
Sincere thanks to everyone who has made a donation to the fund so far."
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If you wish to make a donation you may do so in two ways:
On Line: Go to www.emanuel.org.uk, follow the links to 'Support Us' and on the 'Donate Now' form select 'Geoffrey Dancer Prize' in the pop up menu in 'Additional Details'. Debit and Credit payment are accepted. Gift Aid is automatically claimed if you declare you are a taxpayer.
By Cheque: Please make your cheque payable to Emanuel School and send to Sarah Fisher at Emanuel School, Battersea Rise, London SW11 1HS.
Gift Aid: If you are a tax payer the school can reclaim tax on your gift, therefore in your covering letter, please write that you wish your gift to be donated to the Geoffrey Dancer Prize. Use the words: 'I declare that I am a UK taxpayer and I wish the school to treat, as Gift Aid, all my contributions to the Emanuel School Fund held by United Westminster Schools Charitable Foundation, charity No. 309267.'
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Following Geoff's death in December 2008, his business interests, and work in progress, have been passed to:
Derek Love
Piano Workshop
46b Albert Road North
Reigate
Surrey RH2 9EL
Tel 01737 242174
Website www.pianoworkshop.co.uk
Email info@pianoworkshop.co.uk
Please contact Derek with any enquiries you might have.
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This webpage is a repository of photos, videos, music and reminiscences of Geoff. The copy from Geoff's business website is here, which explains his approach to pianos and their restoration.
If you would like something posted on this page, do please send it to us by email.
30th January 2009
Geoff on the radio!
This is a transcript from part of the annual, week-long Bach festival on WKCR
radio, New York in 2009. The young American pianist Simone Dinnerstein, who recently caused a world-wide sensation with her performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, was the host for a two-hour programme on 30th December.
Her choice of recordings were of the following artists: Dinu Lipatti, Artur Schnabel, Glenn Gould, Geoff Dancer, Myra Hess and Jacques Loussier. The following transcript of the live broadcast is of the section referring to Geoff:
Presenter: You are listening to WKCR 89.9 FM New York. We are lucky here to be with Simone Dinnerstein who is here sharing her favourite recordings and some thoughts about them. She will be with us until 12 noon at which point Rosalyn Tureck will be our special (guest). Please continue!
Simone: The next recording is very special to me. When I was a student in London, studying with Maria Curcio, I became friends with a wonderful man called Geoff Dancer. Geoff was primarily known in London as somebody who restores pianos. He was a fabulous restorer, who made every piano sound like a Geoff piano, a particular kind of very, very lyrical, rich sound, which he created in every piano that he restored. But he was also an amazing pianist, just an inspiring musician. Very sadly a year ago, he died, in 2008, very prematurely; he was only in his early 60’s. I spent many years from the age of 15 on, when I first met him, talking about music, and talking about piano with him. He was just a really inspiring person to me, how he thought about music and how he played. About once or twice a year and sometimes more, he would give a recital in London. These were always real events and I’m lucky enough to have a recording of him playing Bach’s second Partita in C minor from a concert that he gave in Hampstead at, I think it’s St Johns Church in Hampstead, on a piano that I believe he restored. And I just think it’s a wonderful example of exactly what I was talking about before, about speaking through the music, (Simone, talking about Glenn Gould earlier in the programme: “…talking through his fingers, and that’s something I am very, very interested in and drawn to, especially in Bach, and I think that his music has a quality of speaking in it, and I love when I hear a pianist that is playing, and it sounds like their fingers are having a conversation with each other.”) and so, this is a live recording of Geoff Dancer from about 2001, 2002, I’m guessing, of Bach’s Partita no 2 in C minor, BWV 826.
(Plays recording)
Simone: That was the English pianist Geoff Dancer playing Bach’s second Partita in C minor. The movements in that are: Sinfonia – Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – Rondeaux – Capriccio, and that was a live recital that he gave in Hampstead in London, I think it’s St Johns Church, probably around 2001 or 2002. And as I said before, Geoff was a good friend of mine who very sadly died last year and I think that recording is so moving. It’s so… you hear every line and the inner voices, and everything is shaped so beautifully. Not a moment passes when something doesn’t happen, and I love that; there is not a moment that he didn’t really think about when he was playing and make come to life. I find it very moving to listen to that recording.
