Publications
Dancétudes
By Thomas H. Kerr Jr., edited by Susanna Garcia and William Chapman Nyaho
Dancétudes: 7 Vignettes of Dolls and Pets is a set of seven programmatic piano solos by Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr., composed for his young daughter. Dedicated to her dolls and pets, these pieces develop technical proficiency, familiarity with contemporary idioms, and expressive artistry.
Kerr described the title as “a combination of the words ‘dance’ and ‘étude,’” explaining that he wrote them to encourage his daughter’s interest in playing. Spanning late intermediate to early advanced levels, the études explore twentieth-century styles—including impressionism, postimpressionism, modernism, and jazz—each highlighting a specific technique or musical idiom.
Dancétudes serves as a bridge to advanced impressionist and modernist works, and to works in the jazz idiom.
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About the Composer
Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr. (1915–88) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He began playing and studying piano at an early age. He taught himself the organ and, as early as fourteen, played for church services, as well as in Baltimore’s nightclubs. As a young man, Kerr wanted to attend Peabody Institute, but, at that time, African Americans were not admitted. He instead attended Howard University for one year, then transferred to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where he earned three degrees: Bachelor of Music in piano and in theory, and Master of Music in theory. At Eastman he studied piano with Cecile Genhart. In 1943, Kerr returned to Howard University as Professor of Piano and served as chair of the piano department until his retirement in 1976.
Kerr’s catalogue lists over 120 compositions for piano, organ, voice, chorus, and chamber ensembles, most of which have never been published. They are preserved in manuscripts at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Archives and Rare Books Division, in New York City.
This is the first published edition of this composition and is the second in a series of three piano works by Thomas H. Kerr Jr. to be published by The Frances Clark Center.
Learn more about the life and works of Thomas Henderson Kerr Jr. with Susanna Garcia. Click below to view the presentation slides.
About the Editors
Susanna Garcia is Professor Emerita at the University of Louisiana School of Music, where she held the Louisiana Board of Regents Girard Endowed Professorship. She has received numerous honors, including multiple awards from the University of Louisiana, such as the Distinguished Professor Award, Research Excellence Award, and SPARK Lifetime Faculty Achievement Award. Other recognitions include MTNA Foundation Fellow and Louisiana Music Teachers Association Outstanding Teacher. In 2025, she will receive the Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Garcia has performed solo and chamber recitals across the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Ghana. She regularly performs with pianist William Chapman Nyaho as the Nyaho/Garcia Piano Duo, specializing in both standard and contemporary repertoire. Their latest release, Five by Four (MSR Classics), includes four world-premiere recordings.
Garcia is the codeveloper of eNovativePiano: Multimedia Resources for Developing Musicianship Skills, which won the 2021 MTNA–Frances Clark Award for Keyboard Pedagogy.
An active clinician and scholar, Garcia has presented workshops, papers, and master classes for International Society for Music Education, College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association, National Association for Humanities Education, National Group Piano / Piano Pedagogy Forum, Online Learning Consortium, Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and many state and local piano teaching organizations. Her research has appeared in such publications as 19th Century Music, Interdisciplinary Humanities, Piano Pedagogy Forum, Philosophy of Music Education Review, and American Music Teacher.
She has held leadership roles in MTNA and GP3, and she currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy.
William Chapman Nyaho, a Ghanaian American pianist, maintains an active career as a solo recitalist, duo pianist, and chamber musician. He has performed across the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. He frequently serves as a guest clinician at universities and adjudicates national and international piano competitions.
Chapman Nyaho has held academic positions including Associate Professor of Music at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he received the Distinguished Professor Award and held the Heymann Endowed Professorship. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Colby College and Pomona College, an adjunct professor at Pacific Lutheran University and Artist-in- Residence at Willamette University. Additionally, he has been on the piano faculty at Adamant Music School and Interlochen Center for the Arts Summer Camp. Currently, Chapman Nyaho teaches privately in Seattle and serves on the board of trustees for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and the Seattle Piano Institute. He is also Vice President of Representation & Advocacy for the Music Teachers’ National Association.
A dedicated advocate for composers of African descent, he compiled the five-volume Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora (Oxford University Press), for which he received the 2022 MTNA–Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. He has contributed to the International Directory of Black Composers and composed pedagogical works for ABRSM’s Piano Star Duets and OUP’s Piano Time. His critically acclaimed solo recordings include Senku, Asa, and Kete (MSR Classics), along with Aaron Copland: Music for Two Pianos and Five by Four with the Nyaho/Garcia Duo.
Chapman Nyaho is the recipient of the 2025 MTNA Distinguished Service Award and the 2025 Frances Clark Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
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