GSofM Founder Paul Murray Appears on Channel 4’s The Piano

Founder and Director of The Glasgow School of Music, Paul Murray, appeared in Series 4, Episode 2 of Channel 4’s The Piano, broadcast on Sunday 19 July 2026 from London Liverpool Street Station.

The programme brought together pianists from Glasgow with Claudia Winkleman, Mika and guest mentor Jamie Cullum as part of the fourth series of the Channel 4 programme.

For Paul, the appearance centred on a part of the piano repertoire that has shaped much of his musical life: music written for the left hand alone.

Scriabin for the left hand

Paul performed Alexander Scriabin’s Nocturne in D-flat major for the left hand alone, a work requiring a single hand to create the impression of bass, accompaniment, inner voices and melody sounding together.

The performance reflects a musical practice Paul developed following neurosurgery, after which conventional two-handed piano technique was no longer possible.

Rather than leaving performance behind, Paul rebuilt his relationship with the instrument around the specialist repertoire written for one hand. That work has subsequently informed his approach to performance, teaching and music education.

From performance to music education

Today, Paul leads The Glasgow School of Music from its premises in Kinning Park. The school supports more than 100 weekly learners through a specialist teaching team across piano, singing, strings, woodwind, guitar, drums, music theory and composition.

His experience of rebuilding technique and approaching music differently has helped shape a wider principle within the school: effective music education needs to respond to the individual learner rather than expecting every student to follow exactly the same route.