Beyond Black and White

The definitive musical autobiography from internationally acclaimed Australian pianist Roger Woodward.

‘I would have been about two when I first heard music played somewhere beyond the chicken run and dilapidated palings at the top of the back garden. I entered our neighbour’s house through the back door and followed the sound to its source. The elegant old lady playing the black and white keys was as surprised as I was, but she seated me at the keyboard and coaxed me into having a turn …’

From his earliest years in post-war Sydney, Roger Woodward dreamed of a life of music. A gifted pianist, his talent led him overseas, like so many of his generation - first to study in Poland and then to England and the US. For the first time in a career spanning more than 50 years, Woodward shares his remarkable story in a memoir that is deeply personal, honest, passionate and layered.

Classical music fans will be enchanted by the insights into recent and traditional musical masterpieces, as well as Woodward’s perceptive recollections of his collaborations with composers such as Cage, Takemitsu, Radulescu, Xenakis, Barraque, Boulez and Stockhausen.