Book Review – Piano Lessons by Anna Goldsworthy

I recently finished reading Piano Lessons by Anna Goldsworthy. In this book, Goldsworthy not only narrates her path as a piano student and a maturing adolescent, she also gives voice to the growing relationship between her and her piano teacher, Eleonora Sivan.

There were two main things that stood out to me as I read this book. First of all, Goldsworthy by explaining Sivan's philosophy expresses a well-balanced perspective on music and music competitions. Her emphasis is that music is meant to be shared, and a music competition is just another means to share music. The focus then is on the music and not on the competition itself. Secondly, Goldsworthy throughout her narration outlines the friendship, mentorship, and closeness that develops between teacher and student. She describes a rich friendship and mentorship that grows throughout the days, weeks, and months as teacher and student work together.