Carol Tainton

MY TEACHING

For 35 years until 2017 I taught piano in Hamburg with great success. That has always been a passion.

From beginners to college students, I have always strived to enable students to make as much progress as possible in as short a time as possible.
This is the greatest motivation for the student!

I have been able to help countless young pianists to significantly improve their piano playing.

Dozens of students have won PRIZES at national competitions, at the international Steinway Competition, Tchaikovsky Jeunesse Competition, (Moscow); Liszt competition (Budapest); 1st prize in Forum international Pedagogigue e Musique, (Paris), 1st prize in 3rd Concurs de Piano, (Andorra), at the Münster Classic Prize, Grotrian Steinway and Bechstein competitions. Students received Scholarships from the German  Foundation Music Life , the Kauffmann Foundation of the Hamburg Conservatory and the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation.

I also taught at the KAMMERMUSIK INITIATIVE in Hamburg, various ensembles winning 1st and 2nd prizes in the national Jugend Musiziert competition.

PROMINENT HAMBURG MUSICIANS entrusted me with the tuition of their children, eg:

  • Simone Young, General Music Director of the State Opera,
  • Christoph Liebensseutter, director of the Elbphilharmonie,
  • Roland Greutter, concertmaster of the NDR radio orchestra.

PIANO TECHNIQUE has always fascinated me. I have attended courses with at least 30 renowned teachers and musicians…from Pollini to Feuchtwanger, from Badura-Skoda to Naumov.

I have also had the opportunity to discuss piano technique with many pianists, including MARTHA ARGERICH and MURRAY PERAHIA.

Above all, I have learned from PROF. KARL HEINZ KÄMMERLING, the great German star pedagogue.
I followed his teaching and courses for many years, had countless didactical discussions with him, my own son studied with him. Prof. Kämmerling knew my students and praised my work. He passed on students to me whom he could not teach himself due to his busy schedule.

Many of my students have chosen music as a career and are teachers and professors at schools and universities.

mit Irene Schulte-Hillen von der Stiftung Deutsche Musik Leben
mit Karl Heinz Kämmerling

Competitions and prizes

Dozens of students have won PRIZES at national competitions, the International Steinway Competition, the Tchaikovsky Jeunesse Competition, (Moscow); Liszt Competition (Budapest); 1st prizes at the Forum international Pedagogigue e Musique, (Paris), and 3rd Concurs de Piano, (Andorra); at the Klassikpreis Münster, Grotrian Steinway and Bechstein competitions.

Students were awarded the Brahms Prize and the Audience Prize at the Steinway Competition.
Many students received scholarships from the German Musical Life Foundation, the Kauffmann Foundation of the Hamburg Conservatory and the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation.

Testimonials

"We appreciate Carol Tainton's extraordinary competence as a piano teacher for highly gifted students. Her students have won multiple prizes in the international Steinway piano competition for ages 16 and under. She also served as a jury member in this competition We invited her to be a member of the jury of the Steinway University Scholarship competition in Bremen, Lübeck and Hamburg. We are always happy to recommend Ms. Tainton when an exceptional teacher is needed to train gifted children."
Birgit Gremmelspacher
Director of Steinway House Hamburg
"As a pianist myself, I am very able to assess the progress my son (14) made working with Mrs Tainton. He had a scholarship with her for a year, 2 hours per week. She is a dedicated teacher who quickly helped his development on many levels.. She worked intensively on technique which was very important for Andrej and achieved good results.. his fingers were strengthened and became more independent, [...] the work on expression led to a musical understanding of all epochs [...] The development he made was fast and very positive and I am grateful that my son had the opportunity to benefit from her tuition. The work enabled him to win two international piano competitions the following year.”
Nella Yusova
Pianist, pupils` mother
“As a child at the age of 7, I started taking lessons with Carol Tainton. At that time she was considered too be the very best teacher for young students in Hamburg. Soon I won competitions: solo, duo and chamber music. After 9 years with Ms. Tainton, I became a junior student at the music college Hamburg. Prof Banfield said he had never before taken on a young student who had been so well trained in all aspects of piano playing. She also helped me in later years to prepare piano concertos which I played with orchestra in the Laeiszhalle. I won prizes in international competitions: (Moscow, Budapest). During my studies in the USA (Boston, Julliard, New York) all teachers praised my admirable technique and musicality and attributed this to excellent teaching in youth. Ofcourse they were right. Carol Tainton has always been an invaluable source of wisdom for me Patience. She will remain one of the biggest influences on me as a musician and pianist.”
Leon Bernsdorf
Doctorate at Juilliard School of Music, 2022
"The pianist Carol Tainton has been teaching in Hamburg for decades as a highly successful and respected piano teacher. She has taught at the Hamburg University of Music, at the Hamburg Conservatory and freelance. Her students have regularly been awarded prizes from national and international competitions and scholarships. She is renowned both nationally and internationally for her teaching. Her students have studied abroad and are pursuing successful careers. Ms. Tainton will remain an institution for the training of young pianists in the future."
Markus Menke
Director of the Hamburg Conservatorium
"The lessons with Ms. Tainton gave me a great deal because she enabled me to participate in her world of music to an extraordinary depth. In each lesson I immersed myself in another world. This moved me so much that I can no longer imagine a life without music. She brought about a connection between the person and the piano that I still have not found anywhere else. From today’s perspective, I couldn’t have wished for a better piano teacher than Ms. Tainton.”
Jill Delling
Music student, London 2022
"I can say with the utmost conviction that I have never before - in 20 years - experienced such clearly structured, technical and musical piano teaching. My preparation on the Mozart concerto was purposeful and detailed, the concert was an untoward success!
Katrin Schumann-Fucke
School music teacher, Hamburg
"All of our piano-playing children are enthusiastic about their lessons with Mrs. Tainton. We have been able to observe how important it is even in first lessons to pay attention to musicality and technique. We admire how sensitively she teaches our youngest son (5). All 3 have become wonderful piano players and we are very grateful that she was recommended to us by a jury member some years ago."
Maren und Christian Stoll
Maren und Christian Stoll, pupil parents
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