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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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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Piano Inspires Podcast: Chee-Hwa Tan
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 Chee-Hwa Tan for this recognition! Register by…
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5 Reasons to Attend The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 Online Event
The online event of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 is just around the corner! Events will occur from June 6-8 and will be packed with music, social events, concerts, and more. With the event only a few days away, register now to gain access to this exciting event. Learn more and register by clicking here. 1.…
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5 Reasons to Attend The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 Online Event
The online event of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 is just around the corner! Events will occur from June 6-8 and will be packed with music, social events, concerts, and more. If you have not registered, there’s still more time. Learn more and register by clicking here. 1. Accessibility The Piano Conference Online Event is…
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5 Things You Might Not Know About Dan Zhaoyi
We would like to thank Tsz Hin Lam for this article on Dan Zhaoyi. Interested in learning more about Dan Zhaoyi? Attend this session at The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025 online conference on Sunday, June 8, 4:00-4:25pm EDT. Learn more and register for the online and in-person conference here. 1. Dan, born 1940, was a student of renowned Chinese…
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The Birth of Argentina’s Musical Advocate: Alberto Ginastera
THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we celebrate the birth of Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, born on April 11, 1916. Ginastera has been described as an important composer in the history of Argentina, with an impact on the collection and dissemination of folk music similar to that of Bartók in Hungary.1 Ginastera was born in Buenos…
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This Week in Piano History: Happy 150th, Sergei!
THIS WEEK IN PIANO HISTORY, we celebrate the birth of composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff, born on April 1, 1873. Despite his enduring fame as a composer, Rachmaninoff was largely known in his day as one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, touring around the world. Rachmaninoff was most likely born in…
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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…
