Fedorova and Takser Piano Studio: A Decade of Excellence

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Ten years after opening their piano studio in Vancouver, B.C., Daria Fedorova and Ilya Takser celebrate a fruitful pedagogical decade in the company of past and present pupils. Among them, students at the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, and the University of Toronto Medical School. “Our alumni stay in touch with us long after they graduate,” says Takser. “It gives us hope that we are not complete evils—except in exacting the highest pianistic standards,” he adds with typical Russian-flavoured humour.

Celebratory gatherings over dinner, coffee, and walks stimulate lively discussions around the duo’s pedagogical values, rich musical experience, and education. Fedorova’s path was that of a swiftly rising star, winning competitions and passing a prestigious audition at the College of the Moscow Conservatory at only 15 years of age. On the other hand, Takser’s was a long and winding road marked by detours and rejections. He studied violin, computer engineering, and music theory before being admitted to the piano department at the same institution.

Unlike Canada, a robust pre-university music system exists that is state-funded and accessible for free, while being highly competitive. Much of the knowledge that took root and flourishes in Russian music culture today was imported over time from Italy, Germany, or France, explains the husband-and-wife piano duo. “Russian music education is grounded in Western treatises: Carl Czerny, C.P.E. Bach, Leopold Mozart, Ignaz Moscheles, Franz Liszt, etc. Many of these works were later reworked and adapted,” says Takser. “If Soviet-style communism had one positive, it was the development of fundamental music education nationwide,” he adds.

Most music schools in Russia are state-funded, offering free education for students and a comprehensive curriculum. In addition to two instrument lessons, pre-college-age students take theory, music literature, choir, or ensembles, totalling six to seven hours per week. “Teachers must hold a state diploma in pedagogy and are well trained, thanks to strong methodological foundations,” says Fedorova.

This rigorous music training informs the core of their approach. “We are absolutely relentless in pursuit of the highest musical standards,” says Takser. “But we never train students directly for competitions or exams,” chimes in Fedorova. “We cultivate in them a love for arts, music and, most importantly, for challenges. When a student is motivated by music itself, we send them to competitions, and it usually goes very well.”

In their view, a teacher’s role is to guide students into the world of music, nurturing their individuality rather than breaking it. “We treat even our youngest students as future colleagues with whom we’d like to discuss and share music one day. If parents expect us to discipline their children in fear—that’s not us,” says Fedorova. Perhaps surprisingly, Fedorova and Takser often advise against a professional music career. “What we need are people who appreciate beauty,” she says. “There’s nothing more beautiful than a passionate amateur musician!”

Part of parents’ roles in their children’s music studies is to provide the right environment, which includes routine practising, daily listening sessions to music, and attending concerts and art galleries. Practically, students need a quiet, ideally separate, and bright workspace for practising, equipped with everything from an adjustable bench to a well-tuned piano, says Fedorova. From the psychological side, children need their parents’ emotional support; showing genuine interest in a child’s activities is the best motivation, she explains.

The duo’s holistic attitude to musical training has been nurtured by distinguished mentors: Irina Kuzmischeva, Igor Chumakov, Michael Karpov, Tamara Poddubnaya, and Richard Raymond. One teacher has exerted the largest impact on Fedorova and Takser’s pedagogical philosophy. “At the College of the Moscow Conservatory, we studied with Nina Levitskaya, former assistant to the legendary professor Yevgeny Timakin, the teacher of Mikhail Pletnev, among others,” says Takser. “Her understanding of every stage of a child’s musical development was profoundly detailed; she taught us how to diagnose and resolve students’ challenges quickly and with a smile. All our teaching successes today are thanks to her guidance,” says Fedorova.

Fedorova and Tasker make sure their alumni leave behind no gaps: they sight-read, co-ordinate complex rhythms, and develop reliable technique. “The foundation of piano playing lies in a set of small elements that follow a stepwise order,” explains Takser. “Our students first learn to play one note properly, then two notes detached (non-legato), short (staccato), connected (legato). Each step depends on the last; skip one and the whole structure is unstable.”

Despite this methodical approach, they don’t recommend more than three hours of piano practice per day. Students aiming at a professional music career should take two to three weekly lessons with a teacher. “Most students complete all 10 grades of the Royal Conservatory of Music program (RCM) in about four or five years with 45 to 90 minutes of practice per day combined with two lessons per week,” says Takser.

“In Canada, universities are at the top of their game,” says Fedorova, noting that “even general schools are doing great things: orchestras, bands, choirs. That’s fantastic for sparking interest in music and the arts, but if you want serious music study before entering university, you need to hire a private teacher, since free music schools are very rare.” Ideally, the couple wishes every municipality could have at least one free music and art school and provide subsidized tickets to cultural and musical events for children.

“We introduced scholarships about eight years ago in our studio, which has helped many of our students,” says Takser. “We also give free lectures, concerts and participate in non-profit organizations. If these efforts were scaled at the federal level, they could have a truly amazing impact. Music and culture are among the best investments a government can make—and we wish Canada would do so!”