What to Expect at The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025

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From the Creative Music Making, Independent Studio Teachers, and Young Musicians Committee Chairs

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The committees of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 contribute to the program of the conference by curating topic-based tracks from the call for proposals. These unique scheduling blocks allow attendees to explore a series of presentations that have been thematically grouped for a deep learning experience. As we eagerly anticipate NCKP 2025, we asked our committee chairs to give us a sneak peek into their respective tracks of conference programming. Keep reading to see what you can expect in the Creative Music Making, Independent Music Teachers, and Young Musicians tracks! Please note that the schedule of The Piano Conference: NCKP is subject to change. The most up-to-date listing can be found here.

Creative Music Making

By Jeremy Siskind, Chair

It happens every time you attend a conference: You leave inspired and motivated to incorporate improvisation into your lessons. But once you get home and start teaching, the reality of the limitation of a 30- or 45-minute lesson sets in.

“Integrating Improvisation into Piano Lessons” is a guided experience designed to help you combat the “30-minute lesson malaise.” These sessions will guide you through three different approaches real teachers use to combat time constraints and achieve the goal of fostering creativity in their studio. The three approaches are: 1) integrating improvisation consistently across lessons, 2) dedicating specific times for improvisation, such as an “Improv Week,” and 3) starting each lesson with a jam session.

The three presenters will first lead a hands-on experiential session in The Piano Conference’s keyboard lab in which attendees will play the role of students, receiving a lesson in improvisation. Then, all the participants will gather together to hear the teachers describe their approaches, reflect on best practices, and explore how they use improvisation to foster creativity and help students develop pianistic skills.

Independent Music Teachers

The Studio Track

By Jason Sifford, Chair 

The work of a music teacher is complicated. On any given day, we may wear the hats of artists, historians, coaches, employees, business owners, psychologists, and mentors. Each of us has their own unique combination of skills, interests, and experiences that make us the teacher we are. What we do have in common, however, is that we each spend our most valuable time with our students, helping them to become the kinds of musicians they wish to be. That’s why this year we’re proud to offer attendees something we like to call “The Studio Track!”

Hosted by the Independent Music Teachers committee, this year’s track brings you a variety of sessions to help you establish a musically productive studio culture. We’ll explore studio models and understand the changing ways in which teachers are going about their work in the 21st century. We’ll tackle the world of lead sheets and chord charts in an engaging group class in the keyboard lab. We’ll learn how cutting-edge thinking on habit formation can help students become expert practicers. And for those of us who work with students on the quiet side, we’ll find ways to connect with our more timid students in a world that too often promotes and rewards extroversion.

Regardless of the repertoire, genre, or studio model you work in, we hope you’ll join us in the important work of helping students think of themselves as confident and capable musicians, embracing their artistic souls regardless of wherever else their lives may lead.

Young Musicians—Birth to Age Nine

Connecting the Dots: Holistic Learning from Day 1

By Janet Tschida, Chair 

Implementing a holistic approach to cultivating musicianship in young students can be transformative! Children who learn to listen with their whole bodies develop a lifelong love of music-making. The Young Musicians Committee desires to support The Piano Conference’s  flourishing community of piano instructors by intersecting with holistic music specialists. Accordingly, theYoung Musicians track will feature specialists in Dalcroze, Kodály, Music Learning Theory, and more, who will help us “connect the dots” in developing our students’ inner musician!

During the online event in June, Kodály specialist Megan Hall will present “‘I Know that Song!” At this session, we will learn how traditional melodies can ignite a passion for singing and playing the piano, develop aural skills, and encourage music reading. Hall will share the benefits of teaching through the lens of folk music along with practical tools for applying the power of a folk song in the piano studio.

After Hall’s session, Christina Whitlock’s presentation “The Paradox of Play: Taking Fun Seriously” will challenge us to question what it means to “play” our instrument and how that often contrasts with the traditional lesson experience. In this light-hearted exploration into the art of serious play, Whitlock will help us understand why we learn more effectively through play than any other process, and how true play involves a consistent approach throughout the lesson, not one isolated activity.

“Let’s Get Moving! Eurythmics Applications in the Private Studio” will be our first main conference session in July. Dalcroze specialist Katie Ostrosky will introduce us to the Dalcrozian mindset—students learn through experience, discovery, and use of the whole body. As our students learn to engage their whole body with purposeful movement, they will develop a heightened sense of rhythm, expressiveness, and joy in their music. Come ready to move!

On our second day, Music Learning Theory specialist Scarlette Kerr will demonstrate how piano technique is a natural extension of what musicians embody through movement and rhythmic audiation during her session “‘Musiking’ with the Mind and Body.” Building on Kerr’s presentation, Michael Clark will share his fun and innovative, five-part strategy for making technical instruction effective and engaging through Exercises, Rote pieces, Imagery, Cues, and Activities (“ERICA”). To demonstrate how we can apply the pedagogical principles of ERICA to any aspect of piano technique. Clark will illustrate ERICA with a sampling of pianistic techniques.

We invite you to network with like-minded professionals at our Young Musicians social event, “Connecting the Dots: An Interactive Resource Share.” Finding resources to transition from early childhood music and movement to study on an instrument can be challenging. During this interactive resource share, we will unwind from the day by engaging in activities that develop our students’ inner musician including fun folk dances, movement activities, folk songs sung in canon, and more! Attendees will be given a description of activities and recommended resource list. 

Join us for The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 as we gather together in person and online. The Piano Conference seeks to explore the challenges and opportunities facing our international community at this inflection point for the profession. Full conference registration includes four days of engagement, including the summit, concerts, keynotes, PEDx presentations, and more, as well as access to the online event and online event archives. Student, Single-Day, and Online-Only registration options are also available. Save an additional 10% on Early-Bird registration now through Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 11:59 PM Pacific. Use discount code 10EARLY at checkout. Early-bird registration is available until May 1, 2025, at 11:59 PM Pacific. Learn more and register by clicking here.

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