When music is who you are
Introducing 'Facing the Music' - the debut novel of F M Wilson (AKA The Cross-Eyed Pianist)
“That was where I’d always wanted to be – in music, doing music, writing about music…”
I had the great pleasure of talking about music and writing and writing about music with Jon Jacob who runs the marvellous Thoroughly Good Classical Music Podcast.
Listen here:
Chamber Music Weymouth’s 2026/27 Season: A Tribute to Musical Heritage
25 Years of Classical Music in Weymouth
The new season of Chamber Music Weymouth is a particularly special one. Not only will the 2026/27 Season mark the bicentenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven, and the centenary of the birth of composer John Joubert, it is the concert series’ 25th anniversary.
Founded in 2002 by concert pianist and long-time Weymouth resident Duncan Honeybourne, Chamber Music Weymouth – formerly Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts – has become one of Dorset’s most successful and popular classical music series. Created with the simple aim of bringing first-class live chamber music to the heart of Weymouth, the series has remained true to its founding principles: supporting outstanding young musicians alongside distinguished established artists, presenting imaginative programmes that combine familiar masterpieces with lesser-known or rarely-performed repertoire, and offering audiences a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.
The concerts take place at St Mary’s Church in the heart of Weymouth, where its fine acoustics and excellent Yamaha grand piano create an ideal setting for chamber music. The monthly lunchtime concerts have earned a loyal following while maintaining affordable ticket prices and an informal atmosphere in which performers introduce their music and engage directly with listeners.
The series has welcomed many leading musicians during its history while also giving countless young artists invaluable opportunities. In 2024, the organisation adopted the new name Chamber Music Weymouth, reflecting an expanded vision that includes a Sunday afternoon series and Young Artist Showcase events to provide young musicians with valuable performance experience.
The 2026/27 season marks a particularly significant milestone: the 25th anniversary season of the concert series. Twenty-five years after Duncan Honeybourne gave the inaugural concert at Weymouth Arts Centre, Chamber Music Weymouth continues to flourish, bringing internationally acclaimed performers and emerging talent to the Jurassic Coast. The anniversary celebrates not only a quarter of a century of exceptional music-making but also the dedication of the artists, volunteers, supporters and audiences who have helped establish the series as an important part of Dorset’s cultural life. In 2026 the organisation’s contribution was further recognised with the Weymouth Civic Society Arts Award, underlining its lasting impact on the region’s musical landscape.
Pianist and Artistic Director Duncan Honeybourne says, “When I launched Chamber Music Weymouth in the summer of 2002, I couldn’t have imagined the vibrant, enjoyable and life-affirming journey it would take me on, nor that it would be flourishing and going from strength to strength a quarter of a century later! I’m immensely proud that this concert series has built a loyal regular audience, attracted some very distinguished performers to South Dorset and promoted innumerable young artists at an early stage in their careers. Far from resting on our laurels, we are bursting with future plans and exciting ventures, and I can’t wait to take our loyal and lovely audience along on the enriching and stimulating ride.”
Concerts Manager Frances Wilson says, “I have been involved with Chamber Music Weymouth since 2019. It is such a pleasure to bring high-quality live music and remarkable musicians to our stretch of the Jurassic Coast, and we are looking forward to the next 25 years (!) with great enthusiasm, with a number of exciting developments planned to extend our musical activities beyond the lunchtime series.”
The new season of Chamber Music Weymouth concerts opens on Wednesday 23rd September with a recital by Duncan Honeybourne. Tickets are available online in advance or on the door – a bargain at just £5 for world-class classical music in the heart of Weymouth.
At the Piano with… Icarus Hines
What is your first memory of the piano?
The instrument itself rather than the music. I remember being fascinated by the mechanics of it as a very small boy: how a finger could set in motion such a complicated chain of events, all culminating in a single note. It struck me then, and still does, as one of mankind’s great inventions.
Who or what inspired you to become a teacher?
Disappointment, perhaps. Like many young musicians, I imagined the concert platform would provide all the fulfilment I could ever require. It did not. One eventually realises that performing is only one means of serving music. Teaching allows one to leave something behind in another human being, and I have come to regard that as the greater privilege.
Who were your most significant teachers?
My first teacher taught me discipline. My second taught me imagination.
The first is indispensable. The second is everything.
What do you consider the most important qualities in a musician?
Curiosity. Not merely about music, but about life itself. One cannot hope to understand music through music alone. Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin – all demand something of our humanity as well as our musicianship. Technique is acquired through work; humanity has to be lived.
What do you expect from your students?
Honesty. I do not mind mistakes, but I do mind pretence. A wrong note played with conviction tells me more than a flawless performance that has nothing to say.
What is the greatest challenge in teaching exceptionally gifted students?
Protecting them. The world is very eager to applaud talent, but considerably less interested in preserving the person who possesses it. A gifted young musician must be allowed to remain curious, to read, to fall in love, to walk in the countryside, to make mistakes. Otherwise, one risks producing a brilliant pianist and an impoverished human being.
How important is technique?
Essential, but technique is a servant, never the master.
Students often imagine they are practising scales. In reality, they are practising freedom. The better the mechanism functions, the less one has to think about it when the music begins.
How do you approach interpretation?
By asking questions rather than providing answers. Why has the composer written this harmony? Why this dynamic? Why silence here rather than another note? If a student discovers the answer for themselves, they will never forget it.
How do you deal with performance anxiety?
Preparation first, perspective second. Though I would be dishonest if I suggested either is always sufficient. Fear is not necessarily rational, and knowing that one is prepared does not always silence it. I remind my pupils that audiences do not attend concerts hoping the pianist will make mistakes. They come because they wish to be moved.
Which composers do you return to most often?
Beethoven remains inexhaustible. Every decade of one’s life reveals another Beethoven. I suspect I shall still be discovering him on my final day.
Brahms has become increasingly dear to me with age, while Debussy continually reminds us that the piano is capable of colours we scarcely imagine.
Do you think performance and teaching belong together?
Absolutely – one informs the other. A teacher who has never stood before an audience cannot fully understand the peculiar loneliness of the concert platform. Equally, a performer who never teaches risks believing music exists only for applause.
What gives you the greatest satisfaction as a teacher?
The moment a student no longer needs me. That sounds rather melancholy, but it is precisely as it should be. A teacher’s task is not to create dependence, but independence.
Do you have a favourite pupil?
No – though there are certain students whose gifts make one feel extraordinarily fortunate to have crossed their path.
What advice would you give to a young musician embarking upon a professional career?
Do not chase success. Chase truth in the music. Success, if it comes at all, is merely a by-product. And remember that there is a life beyond the keyboard. If your music is to speak honestly, it must be nourished by friendship, kindness, disappointment, literature, laughter, and love. Otherwise you will become a very accomplished pianist indeed, and have very little worth saying.
A note about Mr Hines
Sadly, you won’t find Icarus Hines listed amongst the great piano teachers of the early twentieth century. He is a fictional character from F M Wilson’s debut novel Facing the Music, in which he is the teacher and mentor of the gifted young pianist Theo Browne. His opinions, however, are entirely his own…
(Image generated by AI)
Behind the Scenes of ‘Facing the Music’ – an interview with Indie Boulevard
‘The 1913 C. Bechstein grand piano in F M Wilson’s Dorset home predates the opening of ‘Facing the Music’ by a single year, a coincidence so precise that it already belongs in fiction. Wilson has spent much of her life at the keyboard and an equally substantial part writing about the people who sit there, listening for the point where technique ends and personality takes over. Her first novel grows from years of close attention to musicians, their habits, ambitions and the identities built through daily practice.
After reviewing concerts, interviewing pianists and editing The Cross-Eyed Pianist since 2010, Wilson now claims the freedom reserved for a novelist: she decides who enters the room, which piece reaches the music stand and what follows the applause. A critic receives the finished performance, while a novelist can enter the rehearsal, interrupt it, and follow the players home. Wilson has moved from observing musicians to controlling the clock around them.
By introducing pianist Theo Browne and violinist Jonathan Lane-Fox in London in 1914, just as their careers begin and Europe edges toward war, ‘Facing the Music’ places the reader in a peculiarly painful position. Theo and Jonathan can plan their futures, while a century of hindsight has already changed the meaning of every plan. Wilson’s task is to keep their ambitions vivid under a date that has become a verdict. Published through her own Nine Barrow Press, the novel brings her years as a pianist and critic into a form where every performance can alter a life. We spoke with F M Wilson as her first novel entered the world.’
Read more:
‘Facing the Music’ is out now in paperback and eBook
The Cross-Eyed Pianist 