The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025

Community. Creativity. Impact.

2025 Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Awards & Gala

The Frances Clark Center will recognize select members of our community as recipients of the 2025 Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award. Their extensive contributions to the field of piano pedagogy are extraordinary. Their influence and impact on the profession are demonstrated across the country and internationally, exemplifying 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 Frances Clark Center to individuals who have made substantial and enduring contributions to the field of piano pedagogy and to the work of the Center. It was previously named National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy Lifetime Achievement Award.

At The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025, join us for a Gala champagne reception and awards ceremony on Friday, July 25 at 6:00 PM CDT to celebrate our 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award winners and Outstanding Service Award Winners.

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Questions? Email conference@francesclarkcenter.org.

2025 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Barbara Fast, David Ross Boyd Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Oklahoma, served as Director of Piano Pedagogy and Piano Area Chair, where she coordinated group piano and taught piano pedagogy. She received OU’s 2020 prestigious David Ross Boyd Professor Award for excellence in teaching, and OU’s Regents Award for Superior Teaching. Additional awards include OMTA Teacher of the Year and OU’s Irene and Julian Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts. Dr. Fast co-founded the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3) in 2000. She is a frequent clinician on teaching piano, group piano, and practicing and the brain. A culmination of her lifelong interest in effective learning, teaching, and practicing resulted in the book iPractice: Technology in the 21st Century Music Practice Room (Oxford). Currently she serves on MTNA’s Board as VP for Membership and on the Editorial Board of the Piano Magazine.

“For my entire teaching career, Frances Clark’s pioneering legacy and revolutionary pedagogy has served as inspiration for me and thousands of other teachers. Likewise, the Frances Clark Center’s commitment to fostering innovation and student-centered learning continues to galvanize the teaching profession around the world. I am deeply honored and humbled to have been selected to receive this prestigious award.”

– Barbara Fast

Susanna Garcia is Professor Emerita at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette School of Music, where she held the Louisiana Board of Regents Girard Endowed Professorship. In 2024, she received the SPARK Lifetime Faculty Achievement Award from the College of the Arts in recognition of her work.

Garcia is the co-developer of eNovativePiano: Multimedia Resources for Developing Musicianship Skills, a sequenced multimedia curriculum for piano instruction. The program features instructional videos, video animations, original compositions, and pedagogical editions of standard piano works. In 2021, eNovativePiano was honored with the MTNA/Frances Clark Award for Keyboard Pedagogy.

She performs regularly with pianist William Chapman Nyaho as the Nyaho/Garcia Piano Duo, showcasing works outside the traditional canon as well as performing standard repertoire. Their recent release, Five by Four, includes contemporary music for piano duo, including four world premiere recordings. They have edited three piano works by African American composer Thomas H. Kerr Jr. (1915–88) for publication by Piano Education Press in 2024–25.

Garcia is a course leader for the Frances Clark Center’s Online Teacher Education Course, Piano Teaching Through the Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and on the MTNA Representation and Advocacy Committee.

“I have always held the Frances Clark Center in high esteem for its significant contributions to the field of piano teaching and learning. As a very young child I learned from the Look and Listen series, one of the first publications to bear Frances Clark’s name. With this amazing recognition, I feel as though I have come full circle. I am deeply grateful for this award and for the opportunity to contribute to the Center’s work.”

– Susanna Garcia

Dr. Gary Ingle was named CEO Emeritus of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)

Following his retirement on June 30, 2024 after twenty-eight years as its CEO. A frequent speaker and panelist, he has addressed audiences in all fifty states and Puerto Rico, as well as music groups in Canada, South America, Europe, Great Britain, Africa, and Asia.

Dr. Ingle has held volunteer leadership positions globally. For eighteen years, he was President or Chair of the Board of the National Music Council of the United States, the longest tenure since its founding in 1940. He served on the Executive Board and as Executive Vice President of the International Music Council as well as President of the Music Council of the Three Americas. He was a founder and chair of the Forum (now Commission) for Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy of the International Society for Music Education.

In March 2024, Dr. Ingle received the MTNA Achievement Award, its highest honor.

“I am deeply honored and profoundly grateful to have been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award. To be recognized with the Center’s highest honor is a privilege beyond measure. This recognition is truly humbling, and I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the entire Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy community for this incredible distinction.

The work and legacy of Frances Clark have been an enduring source of inspiration throughout my career as the Chief Executive Officer of MTNA, and to be named a recipient of an award bearing her name is a privilege I cherish. This recognition not only celebrates the contributions I have made over the years, but also honors the collective efforts of music teachers, students, and colleagues who have shared this journey with me.

Throughout my career, I have always believed in the transformative power of music and its ability to shape lives. I have been fortunate to work alongside so many passionate and dedicated individuals like Frances Clark, Louise Goss, and the leaders at The Frances Clark Center who share this belief, and I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had to contribute to the field of keyboard pedagogy.

As I reflect on the path that led me to this point, I am reminded of the importance of mentorship, collaboration, and the ongoing pursuit of excellence, which Frances exemplified and taught throughout her long and distinguished life and career. I am proud to be part of a community that is dedicated to advancing the art of teaching and learning, and I am inspired by the work of all those who continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in keyboard pedagogy and music teaching.

Once again, thank you for this remarkable honor. I am proud to be associated with such a distinguished organization, which has had an immeasurable impact on keyboard teachers, students, and the broader music teaching world. I look forward to continuing to support the mission of the Frances Clark Center and contributing to the future of music teachers in meaningful ways.”

– Gary Ingle

William Chapman Nyaho is a recitalist and lecturer dedicated to promoting music by composers of African descent. He serves as Vice President for Representation and Advocacy at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and is a board member of the Frances Clark Center. Previously a piano faculty member at Pacific Lutheran University, he teaches privately in Seattle. Chapman Nyaho’s publications include the five-volume anthology Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, published by Oxford University Press, as well as CD recordings featuring works by composers of African descent.

“I am deeply honored to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award from The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. My work began as a labor of love, driven by a passion to make music more inclusive and to celebrate the rich diversity of cultures through piano pedagogy. Being part of such an esteemed organization over the years, and now receiving this recognition, is profoundly humbling. This honor inspires me to continue championing the transformative power of music education and its ability to unite people across cultures.”

– William Chapman Nyaho

Craig Sale is Senior Editor for Piano Magazine and Director of Online Courses for The Frances Clark Center. He served as Associate Editor for Clavier Companion/Keyboard Companion beginning in 2000. He is the editor for the highly praised book, The Success Factor in Piano Teaching by Elvina Pearce (Frances Clark Center), author of Piano Interval Workbook (Hal Leonard), and co-author of The Music Tree: Activities 3 and The Music Tree: Activities 4 (Alfred). He has served on the Board of Trustees for the Center since 2011. For thirty years he served as Director of the Preparatory and Community Piano Program at Concordia University Chicago, where he created a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy curriculum and taught the university courses in piano pedagogy. He has presented workshops for piano teachers across the United States, including presentations at MTNA and NCKP.

“My pedagogy studies with Frances Clark and Louise Goss in the early 1980s were the most formative of my professional life. Every ounce of the work I have done over the years with piano students and piano teachers has been inspired by my experience with these great mentors. To receive the Lifetime Achievement Award is such a great honor—a great way to say, “Job well done.” I humbly accept this honor, and I acknowledge that the work it celebrates is simply the natural outgrowth of my dedication to the continuation of a legacy devoted to excellence in the teaching of music at the piano created by Frances and Louise.”

– Craig Sale

View past award recipients on our Archives page.