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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Inspiring Instructors: The Power of a Piano Teacher
At The Frances Clark Center, we are honoring piano teachers who are working every day to make the world more empathetic, inclusive, and connected through the transformational power of music. We welcome you to celebrate your own teacher by sharing a tribute with us and donating to the Frances Clark Center. Students, parents, and colleagues…
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This Month in Piano History – Les femmes du musique
This November, we celebrate three inspiring women: soprano Maria Callas, composer and pianist Fanny Hensel, and composer, pianist, and organist Emma Lou Diemer. November 1, 1954: The American Operatic Debut of Maria Callas Greek-American soprano Maria Callas personified the “diva” and held many successful roles in Italy and South America before her American debut as…
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A Look Inside “A Pianist’s Guide to Teaching Recreational Music Makers”
We would like to thank Amy Perdew for her contributions to this article on Recreational Music Making. Interested in learning more about RMM? Our latest course, A Pianist’s Guide to Teaching Recreational Music Makers, is available for purchase. Learn more and enroll here. Use code RMMLAUNCH2024 for an exclusive $25 off. Marketing is the process…
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Recreational Music Making: 5 Discoveries We Made as RMM Teachers
We would like to thank Debra Perez, Craig Sale, Rebecca Bellelo, and Emily Book McGree for their contributions to this article on Recreational Music Making. Interested to learn more about RMM? Our latest course, A Pianist’s Guide to Teaching Recreational Music Makers, was just released. Learn more and enroll here. Use code RMMLAUNCH2024 for an…
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Piano Inspires Podcast: Dennis Alexander
To celebrate the latest episode of the Piano Inspires Podcast featuring Dennis Alexander, we are sharing an excerpted transcript of his conversation with Jennifer Snow. Want to learn more about Alexander? Check out the latest installment of the Piano Inspires Podcast. To learn more, visit pianoinspires.com. Listen to our latest episode with Alexander on Apple Podcasts,…
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Final Call: Proposals for The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025
The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 advances and supports the international field of piano teaching, learning, and performing. To innovate for the future, we seek programming that explores the challenges and opportunities of the present day and the future for practitioners and performers, arts leaders and advocates, professors and administrators, and new professionals and students. The…
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Piano Inspires Podcast: Annie Jeng
To celebrate the latest episode of the Piano Inspires Podcast featuring Annie Jeng, we are sharing an excerpted transcript of her conversation with Craig Sale. Want to learn more about Jeng? Check out the latest installment of the Piano Inspires Podcast. To learn more, visit pianoinspires.com. Listen to our latest episode with Jeng on Apple Podcasts,…
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A Master at Work: Marvin Blickenstaff
We would like to thank Gail Berenson for this tribute to Marvin Blickenstaff. As we continue the season of gratitude and giving, we pay tribute to piano teachers from around the country who are transforming the lives of their students. Students, parents, and colleagues are honoring piano teachers from their communities as part of the…
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5 Reasons to Submit a Proposal to The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025
We would like to thank Megan Hall and Curtis Pavey for this insightful article about why you should submit a proposal to The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025. The last chance to submit your proposals via our proposal submission portal is 11:59pm PDT on Monday, October 21, 2024. 1. Share your teaching practices, scholarship, and research.…
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What’s New at NCKP This Year
We are excited to welcome you this summer to NCKP: The Piano Conference as we celebrate 25 years of excellence in piano teaching, learning and performing. We stand on a rich legacy of piano educators who for more than two decades have cultivated the conference to provide relevant and needed resources to piano teachers. This…
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The Benefits of NCKP: The Piano Conference and Why You Should Attend
Register for NCKP: 2023! Click here to register. The list of sessions for the upcoming NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference has been posted, and it looks to be a best-ever conference. I wouldn’t miss it. If memory serves me correctly, I have attended every NCKP since its founding by Richard Chronister some 25 years ago.…
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E-Posters: Why You Should Submit and Tips for Success
With gratitude we welcome one of our NCKP 2021: The Piano Conference Research E-Poster Award Winners, Robin S. Heinsen, to our Discovery page. Heinsen is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Miami University, and has provided helpful insight into her experience as an NCKP poster presenter. We hope it will inspire you to join us…
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This Week in Piano History: Beethoven’s Viennese Debut
THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we celebrate Beethoven’s debut as a pianist in Vienna on March 29, 1795. At just twenty-four years old, Beethoven’s performance marked the beginning of a lifelong musical relationship with the residents of Vienna. Beethoven came to Vienna in November 1792 to study with Haydn. His journey to Vienna was funded…
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Margaret Bonds
Check out Sarah Rushing’s archived webinar of Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water, where she explores the preparation, practice, and interpretation of this unique piece. 1. Margaret Bonds was raised by four independent, career-oriented women. At the tender age of four, Bonds’s parents divorced. Instead of growing up in a traditional family structure, Bonds was raised by…
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This Week in Piano History: The Demise of Hanon
THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we remember composer and organist Charles-Louis Hanon, who died on March 19, 1900 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. Author of the infamous collection The Virtuoso Pianist, Hanon is little known besides this work. Hanon was born in Renescure, a village in northern France. He learned to play organ and later moved to…
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Teaching Students to Love Classical Period Repertoire: Q&A with Suzanne Newcomb
Don’t miss Suzanne Newcomb’s Inspiring Artistry contribution about Beethoven’s Sonatina in G Major, which includes information on how to effectively teach the piece. Why is it important for students to learn Classical-period repertoire? What are some of the benefits? Classical-period repertoire represents the foundation of much of the piano music that follows it! Baroque composers…
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How To Travel to NCKP 2023: The Piano Conference without Breaking the Bank!
Register for NCKP: 2023! Click here to register. Having spent a good amount of the last 30 years zig-zagging the skies as a music technology consultant, I have personally experienced nearly every curveball air travel can toss my way. In all this time, through quite a bit of trial and error and by picking up…
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Five Things You Might Not Know About Claude Debussy
Check out Andy Villemez’s video of Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, L. 177/8 where he explores the preparation, practice, and interpretation of this unique piece. 1. When referring to his own music, Debussy hated the term “impressionism.” The life of most composers includes small, or even lengthy battles in how their music is…
