Robert S. Finley Contributor

Robert Finley was born in England and began to play the piano at the age of seven. He won a scholarship to Trinity College of Music in London to study piano and musicianship. In 1976 he was awarded the ARCM performer's diploma with honours from the Royal College of Music. He continued his studies with Norma Fisher and Albert Ferber (student of Rachmaninov) and performed in masterclasses by Louis Kentner, Vlado Perlemuter, Bernard Roberts, David Wilde and Jorge Bolet.

He has given recitals in the UK, Israel, Argentina and the USA, and has played on radio and television. He performed concertos by Mozart, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Shostakovitch and Rachmaninov with symphony orchestras in the UK.

He is well known on the internet for his real-time MIDI and MP3 recordings, and has a web page devoted to the technique of MIDI recording. He recorded two CDs for the QRS Corporation's "Pianomation TM" player piano system.

In June 2000 he was a contestant in the Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs and advanced to the semifinal round. The music critic of the Dallas Morning News said that "Electrical Engineer Robert Finley from Massachusetts played Faure, Grieg and Liszt with a refined balance of forward motion and expressiveness".

Robert is arranging an international piano competition in Boston for Outstanding Amateurs on August 9-12th, 2001. Click for more information.