What to Expect at The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025

• 
• 
• 

From the Collaborative Performance and Research Committee Chairs

---

---

The Committees of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 work to research, compile, or otherwise address issues of ongoing significance to our participants and the piano teaching public in meaningful and substantive ways. As we eagerly anticipate NCKP 2025, we asked our committee chairs to give us a sneak peek into their respective tracks. Keep reading to see what you can expect from the Collaborative Performance and Research Conference 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.

Collaborative Performance: Inspiration and Execution

By Alexandra Nguyen, Chair

Sunday, June 8, 2pm-3pm

Friday, July 25, 10am-12pm

The mission of the collaborative performance committee is to promote and support collaborative

music making at every level. By its very nature, the field that is called collaborative piano encompasses a wide range of activities: performing with others, teaching, coaching, working as

rehearsal pianists… the list is diverse, providing an endless list of potential topics for conference

sessions. 

At The Piano Conference: NCKP 2023, the collaborative performance committee hosted a town hall where questions and topics for discussion were collected from the attendees. The session was energizing, interactive, and informative, providing us with first-hand insight into the concerns and issues faced by pianists working in a broad cross-section of settings. This collected information served as the impetus for the design of this year’s online and in-person collaborative performance sessions.

The Collaborative Performance Track will support the dual facets of being a musician: the artistic soul seeking inspiration and the working professional dealing with pragmatic and financial mechanics, as well as to build and nurture a sense of community. Despite the fact that collaborative pianists are constantly working with others, it is not unusual for us to feel solitary – that those we interact with may not have a clear understanding of our work nor be a knowledgeable resource. To this end, a town hall will be held to offer a space for open discourse and exchange.

This track will also address logistic and financial management for collaborative pianists. What constitutes a reasonable workload for a staff pianist? How should salaries, honoraria, and fees be set? How can one establish healthy working expectations and boundaries? In reaction to this, the collaborative performance committee will host Behind the Curtain: Labor Relations for the Collaborative Pianist, with the goal of providing concrete guidelines for the working collaborative pianist, and perhaps for the industry at large.

A highlight of this year’s collaborative sessions is the online forum Iconic Conversations: Insights from Leaders in Collaborative Piano will bring together artist-pedagogues Jean Barr, Anne Epperson, Margo Garrett, Warren Jones, and Martin Katz for a stimulating discussion, offering a rare opportunity to gain insights into the artistry, challenges, and evolving role of collaborative pianists from the perspective of these incredible leaders in the field. It is an event not to be missed!

We hope that all who attend the collaborative performance track sessions will leave with a renewed sense of inspiration, intention, and purpose.

Recent Scientific Research

By Alejandro Cremaschi, Chair

Sunday, June 8, 2-3:30pm

Thursday, July 24, 10:30am-12:30pm

As teachers, students and musicians we often encounter situations that make us wonder about questions such as the root causes of problems we experience, the most effective solutions to those problems, or the effects of our decisions, actions and strategies on our performance and our teaching. At times, we find answers by reading the research others have conducted to answer similar questions. Other times, these questions prompt us to become researchers ourselves, to look closely and systematically at these phenomena. The Research Track presentations and poster sessions will provide attendees with both: opportunities to learn about exciting research projects in a diverse range of areas and the tools to get started and to further develop research skills.

The online June event will feature fascinating studies on how we read music, use peer teaching in group classes,  and use movement to play the piano. Sumi Kwon and Su-Young Bae will discuss their findings about eye movements during the perusal time prior to sight-reading, taking into account the musical structure of the piece being read, and sight-reading ability of the participants. Jinnan Liu will share the results of a quantitative study in group piano teaching. She will explore the ideal approaches for using reciprocal peer teaching in the learning of repertoire, sight-reading, harmonization, and transposition. Paloma Monteiro will then present on her study that used Motion Capture and MIDI technology to analyze the impact of diversifying repetition in practice on synchronization between the pianist’s hands.

The in-person track will open with with presenters Sarah Jenkins, Curtis Pavey, Helena Hyesoo Kim and Carla Salas-Ruiz discussing the findings of project that investigated the evolving definitions of success among American music professionals without full-time academic positions, and essential skill sets for new graduates and recommended curricular modifications. Then, researcher Todd Van Kekerix will discuss how music is making an impact in addressing the elevated levels of stress among healthcare workers, nurses, nursing students, and long-term care workers. His session will share research on the impact of group keyboard music-making sessions on the changes in mood states, blood pressure, and burnout.

The second hour of the in-person track starts with a presentation on pianistic movement and how it communicates artistry. Researcher Carla Cash will focus on recent research from an ongoing collaboration with her university’s biomechanical engineering department using a Motion Capture System to examine the mechanics of piano technique. She will present data tracking the body motions of a professional pianist with over 40 years of playing experience and a college undergraduate pianist with 15 years of experience, demonstrating differences between the players’ use of their upper torsos in performance. Following this, Stephanie Archer will discuss the findings of a research project that polled piano teachers about the order of introduction of technical skills at the beginning level, and their beliefs about the relationship between beginner-level technique instruction and injury prevention. 

We hope that you will join us for these fascinating and informative sessions. They will likely inspire and empower you to seek answers, apply research in your own teaching, and to start your own research inquiries.

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. Early-bird registration is available until May 1, 2025, at 11:59 PM Pacific. Subscribers receive an additional 10% off; log into PianoInspires.com and go to ‘My Discounts’  to find your discount code. Learn more and register for The Piano Conference by clicking here.

---

• 
• 
•