pianoinspires.com
Piano Inspires Discovery
A space dedicated to inspiring the love of piano and music making through educational and inspirational content.
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How To Travel to The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 without Breaking the Bank!
The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 is just around the corner! With events running from Wednesday, July 23 through Saturday, July 26, the conference will feature concerts, PEDx talks, presentations, and more. Have you registered yet? Register today for The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 by clicking here. Having spent a good amount of the last 30…
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Piano Inspires Podcast: Karen Walwyn
On Thursday, July 24th from 2:30-4:00pm, The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 will present PEDx talks, highlighting exemplary work and projects performed by members of our community. In celebration, we are sharing this excerpt from Karen Walwyn’s appearance on the Piano Inspires Podcast. Interested in hearing more from Walwyn? Register for The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025…
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Meet the Keynote Speakers
The Piano Conference eagerly anticipates keynote speeches from Randall Faber, Sarah Hoover, and Stanford Thompson. Learn more about the speakers and mark this exhilarating conference on your calendar! Haven’t registered for The Piano Conference yet? Register here. Randall Faber Randall Faber has been a guest artist at universities throughout North America and Asia, including the…
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Announcing the Frances Clark Center’s Newest Publication: Easter Monday Swagger: Scherzino for Piano by Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by William Chapman Nyaho and Susanna Garcia
In celebration of Juneteenth, The Frances Clark Center is pleased to announce the newest publication from Piano Education Press: Easter Monday Swagger by Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by William Chapman Nyaho and Susanna Garcia. Easter Monday Swagger was composed by Thomas Henderson Kerr, Jr., and was completed on Easter Monday, March 30, 1970. It…
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Piano Inspires Podcast: Leila Viss
As we get closer to The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 this July, we invite you to register for our 2025 Gala, celebrating our 2025 Lifetime Achievement Outstanding Service Award recipients. The Frances Clark Center celebrates its Outstanding Service Award recipients with special re-releases of podcast episodes. Congratulations to Leila Viss for this recognition! Register by…
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Piano Inspires Podcast: Spencer Myer
As we get closer to The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 this July, we invite you to register for our conference and join us in Lombard, Illinois. Additionally, we invite you to join us at a conference Gala celebrating our 2025 Lifetime Achievement Outstanding Service Award recipients. The Frances Clark Center celebrates its Outstanding Service Award…
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Featuring The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 Exhibitors
Register now for The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 and experience incredible concerts, as well as teaching demonstrations, peer-reviewed conference sessions, and more. The Piano Conference: NCKP is excited to welcome industry leaders to our in-person event! See who will be there and take advantage of special conference deals and giveaways. 1on1 Piano Alfred Music Clefer…
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Meet the Jazz Concert Artists at The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025
The Piano Conference is thrilled to welcome Jeremy Siskind, Jeremy Jordan, Edward Simon, and Miki Yamanaka to the stage this summer in A Night of Jazz and a special Late-Night Jam on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Register now for The Piano Conference and experience this incredible concert, as well as teaching demonstrations, peer-reviewed conference sessions,…
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John Perry – In Memoriam
The Frances Clark Center is deeply saddened by the passing of John Perry – virtuoso, mentor, teacher, and friend. His legacy will continue to inspire pianists for generations, and we honor his memory. In greatest honor and memory of his legacy, we share this article by Samuel Holland as it originally appeared in the Spring…
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Mindfulness in the Piano Lesson: Where Do We Start?
In the Summer 2023 Piano Magazine issue, Fernanda Nieto posed a question about mindfulness in the piano studio: how do we help our students deal with the stresses in piano lessons but also in everyday life? Enjoy this excerpt from her article, and consider how you can help your students manage the many stresses in…
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Practicing the Piano
We would like to thank Sheryl Iott for collaboration on this post. We encourage you to watch Sheryl’s archived webinar titled, “Music Cognition: Patterns, Predictions and Practice,” by clicking here. Want to watch, but not yet a subscriber? Subscribe now for only $7.99/mo or $36/year. 1. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Not even perfect practice! What…
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The Consummate Role Model for Piano Teachers | Honoring Marvin Blickenstaff
Join us for our first webinar of the season titled “The Life Saving Work of Teachers,” presented by Marvin Blickenstaff on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 11:00am EDT. Click here to register! Naegeli van Bergen Metcalf was my first college piano teacher and a beloved mentor. She left Wesleyan College after my freshman year to…
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OLGA KERN: A Consummate and Positive Artist
We are pleased to share this conversation with Olga Kern about her vibrant career and mission as a musician, written by Sara Ernst. This conversation originally appeared in the Summer 2023 issue of Piano Magazine. If you would like to explore other articles from Piano Magazine, please subscribe now for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr. Concert…
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Hats Off to You, George! | Honoring George Litterst
George Litterst is a recipient of the 2023 Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award. His extensive contributions to the field of piano pedagogy are extraordinary and exemplify outstanding dedication to the field of music and piano teaching. The Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor and is presented on behalf of the…
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5 Steps for Successfully Incorporating a Sight-Reading App into Your Studio
Check out Anna Beth Rucker’s presentation at the NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference online event, How to Choose and Use Sight-Reading Apps to Enhance Student Learning Experience, on June 11, 2023 from 4:30-4:55PM. There’s still time to Register for NCKP 2023! In recent years, sight-reading apps have quickly populated app stores and captured the minds…
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5 Reasons You Should Include Asian Repertoire in Your Studio
Don’t miss Shuk-Ki Wong’s presentation at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference online event, Embracing Diversity in Your Studio: A Pedagogical Exploration of Underrepresented Chinese Keyboard Literature, on June 10, 2023 from 4:30-4:55PM. There’s still time to Register for NCKP 2023! 1. Only 1.77% of scheduled pieces in concert halls were composed by Asian composers. Despite…
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5 Things You Might Not Know About Colombian Composer Jaime León
Don’t forget to check out Felipe Calle‘s presentation at NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference, The Piano Works of Jaime Leon: A Pedagogical Approach, on June 11, 2023 from 4:30-4:55PM during our online event. Register now for NCKP 2023! 1. Jaime León was born in 1921 in Cartagena, Colombia, a colonial city on the Caribbean coast. His father,…
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The Value and Survival of Music – Philosophies of Frances Clark
We are pleased to share some of our favorite quotes by Frances Clark, the pioneer pianist and educator for whom the organization is named. To read more of Clark’s writing, you can purchase her book, Questions and Answers, by clicking here. On the Value of Music “To understand music is to know an entire range…
