Steinway & Sons
Prelude sponsor of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025
Booths: 104 & 203
Promo Code: TBD
TBD
Giveaway:
TBD
Showcase Schedule:
- June 8, 12:00pm EDT: Online Showcase; TBD
- July 25, 4:00pm: Showcase in Grand Ballroom IJ; TBD
News
Piano Day 2025 – Coming Soon!
Share your love of the piano and help support The Frances Clark Center by “purchasing” a virtual piano key during our 88 Keys in 88 Hours donation campaign for Piano Day 2025! Starting tomorrow, our virtual piano keys will be available for a range of amounts, starting at $5. Your donation will help us continue providing the highest quality resources and programs for piano teaching, learning, and performing.
Your name will be listed on your chosen key on the 88 Key Donor Board on our website throughout the year. You can even buy a key in honor of a teacher or mentor to express your appreciation for the impact they have made in your life.
As a member of our community, we welcome you to support The Frances Clark Center and its divisions: The New School for Music Study, The Piano Conference: NCKP, Piano Magazine, Piano Inspires Kids, The Journal of Piano Research, Piano Education Press, Online Teacher Education, and PianoInspires.com.
As a nonprofit educational organization, we rely heavily on your donations to continue offering high-quality programs. Our inspiring mission supports pianists and teachers as they impact lives, influence communities, and change the world. We welcome you as a “key” donor this year as we work together to support our community and advance the profession.
MORE ON THE POWER OF A PIANO TEACHER
- DISCOVERY PAGE: The Power of a Piano Teacher by Heather Smith
- DISCOVERY PAGE: The Joy of Giving by Heather Smith
- DISCOVERY PAGE: Marvin Blickenstaff: Cheerleader Extraordinaire by Sara Ernst
- DISCOVERY PAGE: She Really Took a Chance on Me by Asia Passmore
- DISCOVERY PAGE: A Tribute to John Salmon by Heather Hancock
- DISCOVERY PAGE: A Symphony of Gratitude by Ricardo Pozenatto
- DISCOVERY PAGE: Honoring Amy Merkley and Irene Peery-Fox by Hyrum Arnesen
- DISCOVERY PAGE: Reflections on My Piano Teacher | Honoring Fern Davidson by Marvin Blickenstaff
- DISCOVERY PAGE: Every Student Has a Voice the World Needs to Hear | Honoring Carole Ann Kriewaldt by Leah Claiborne
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Piano Inspires Podcast: Samantha Coates
To celebrate the latest episode of the Piano Inspires Podcast featuring Samantha Coates, we are sharing an excerpted transcript of her conversation with Craig Sale. Want to learn more about Coates? Check out the latest installment of the Piano Inspires Podcast. To learn more, visit pianoinspires.com. Listen to our latest episode with Coates on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or our website!
Craig Sale: What are your thoughts on how music might shape our future?
Samantha Coates: Oh, yeah, these are heavy questions. [laugh]
CS: Yeah, these questions get heavier.
SC: Well, from a pedagogical point of view, how music might shape our future is that music can be more accessible to more people. The more that music is taught in a way that ensures recreational music making in the future, rather than just the study of difficult pieces to pass a certain exam and then stopping. That means people will grow up and play music for pleasure, play music for entertainment, and gather around a piano for entertainment, instead of gathering around an iPad.
CS: Yes.
SC: So I think that the way that I teach, which is so different to the way I taught twenty years ago, is probably going towards that, to make sure that people have these leisure skills in music, and then they can take that into adulthood and enjoy their instruments. Then they can be supportive to their kids who are learning an instrument. And for there to be a culture, wherever there is an instrument, just to get together and play together.
CS: So the answer to that question I asked you is, “Our future [has] us being brought together by music.”
SC: Yes.
CS: And I think, as you mentioned, music is accessible, but it’s very accessible [in that], you know, [you] can click a button and hear it. But that idea of music, active music making to bring people together, that’s how the future of our world gets impacted, not so much by pushing a button.
SC: Absolutely, that’s right. And it comes back to what you were saying. It’s not just listening to music on a CD, but the shared experience of being in a concert together is so important, and the shared experience of playing music together is so important.
CS: And we just have to hope and keep working that our world recognizes that and starts to value that more. And along with that, the work that teachers do to help make that happen.
SC: Yes.
CS: That’s one of the reasons why you’re here, is because you’re an example of a teacher who has—personally, I think it’s wonderful, that the self exploration that you’ve done—then really kind of going it alone, to make it different and to make music more accessible. And by doing that, you change the world. So thank you for that. It’s a wonderful example, I think, for all of us.
SC: Thank you.
If you enjoyed this excerpt from Piano Inspires Podcast’s latest episode, listen to the entire episode with Samantha Coates on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or our website!
MORE ON SAMANTHA COATES
- PIANO MAGAZINE ARTICLE: The Repertoire-Rich Challenge: Three Stories to Inspire You by Elissa Milne, Benjamin Steinhardt, and Lizbeth Atkinson
- PIANO MAGAZINE ARTICLE: What I’ve Learned from 150 Podcast Episodes… and Counting by Tim Topham
Not yet a subscriber? Join for only $7.99/mo or $36/yr.
Exhibitor Profile – Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of America
Lead sponsor of The Piano Conference: NCKP 2025
Booths: 304, 403, & 405
Promo Code: TBD
TBD
Giveaway:
TBD
Showcase Schedule:
- June 7, 12:00pm EDT: Online Showcase; Acoustic or Digital. What would you recommend for your students?
- July 24, 4:00pm: Showcase in Grand Ballroom GH; The Ultimate Teaching Acoustic Piano Part 1, Remote Teaching Goes Viral
- July 25, 8:00am: Showcase in Magnolia AB; Creative Group Piano Activities with Yamaha’s MLC200 Controller and Selecting the Ideal Yamaha Digital Piano for Your Music Lab
- July 25, 12:00pm CDT: Informal Piano Lab Time in Magnolia BC
- July 25, 4:00pm CDT: Showcase in Grand Ballroom GH; The Ultimate Teaching Acoustic Piano Part 2, Disklavier Remote Teaching is Easy
Exhibitor Profile – Fons by MakeMusic
Exhibitor Profile – Norwex
Exhibitor Profile – Music Teachers National Association
Exhibitor Profile – Yellow Cat Publishing/Piano Key Finders
Yellow Cat Publishing/ Piano Key Finders
Booth: 309
Promo Code: NCKP2025
Use the promo code to get 25% off all products purchased on www.pianokeyfinders.com for all of July, August, and September 2025.
Giveaway: Swing by the booth and get a 5 note scale and chord card set to try out. Set includes 5 note major and minor scales, as well as major, minor, augmented, and diminished root position triads. Teaching in all keys from the first lesson has never been this easy!
Booth Schedule:
TBD
TBD
Exhibitor Profile – Alfred Music
Alfred Music
Booths: 110, 207, & 209
Promo Code: NCKP2025
Promo code is valid for 20% off physical purchases directly from alfred.com. Digital purchases from third-party sellers are not included in this promotion. May not be combined with any other offer. Valid until August 15, 2025. Includes Free Standard Shipping within the United States.
Giveaway: TBD.
Booth Schedule:
TBD.
TBD.
Exhibitor Profile – My-Melodies Publishing
My-Melodies Publishing
Booth: 408
Promo Code: NCKP25
10% off anything on our website! This includes every book in our catalogue and studio licenses.
Giveaway: We’re so confident that your students will love our music that we’re giving away one free song to everyone who stops by the My-Melodies Publishing booth!
Stop, say hi, get a free piece, and make us regret this promotion!
Booth Schedule:
Stop by our booth to enter in our raffle for a chance to win our whole catalogue! Drawing will be held at 11:00AM on Saturday, July 26th.
Exhibitor Profile – Piano Safari
Exhibitor Profile – Piano Marvel
Piano Marvel
Booths: 208 & 210
Promo Code: NCKP2025
When the Promo Code, NCKP2025, is entered into the Promo Code field during the set up of a new Piano Marvel account, the monthly rate with be reduced from $17.99 per month to $14.99 per month. Note: Annual Premium accounts will not be discounted because the yearly amount of $129.99 per month when divided by 12 months is $10.83 per month.
Giveaway: 1 Annual Account
Booth Schedule:
Regular exhibiting hours
Exhibitor Profile – SproutBeat
Exhibitor Profile – My Music Staff
My Music Staff
Booth: 205
Promo Code: mymusicstaff.com/nckp2025
Try My Music Staff for 60 days FREE! No credit card or commitment required.
Giveaway: Visit our booth to get some free swag and enter to win a FREE YEAR of My Music Staff!
Booth Schedule:
TBD.
TBD.
