Piano Magazine is proud to sponsor the Collegiate Writing Contest showcasing the talents of tomorrow’s teachers! Writers are free to choose any topic relating to the field of piano pedagogy and write a 1,500 word article. Submissions must be received by May 1, 2026. A panel of professionals will evaluate submissions based on content, clarity, originality, value to the profession, and writing style. To help you prepare, check out the following articles from some of our past winners below!
2025 Collegiate Essay Winner: The Well-Tempered Keyboard Lab: Wellness Strategies for the Group Piano Classroom
Aleigh Papagno
“Take care of yourselves,” “stay healthy,” “be well.” If you have ever taught collegiate group piano courses, then you have probably offered this advice to your overwhelmed,sleep-deprived students at some point. As teachers, we know that students need to be well to learn effectively, and we often use these phrases to express our care for their well-being. But are these simple reminders really teaching our students what it means and how to “be well”? According to the National Wellness Institute (NWI), wellness is a series of “conscious, self-directed” actions that helps individuals obtain optimal levels of functioning.1 Further, the NWI […]”
2024 Collegiate Essay Winner: The Cultural and Practical Implications of Tan Dun’s Eight Memories in Watercolor
Yu Han
“Tan Dun was born in 1957, in Changsha, Hunan Province, China, and earned his master’s degree in 1985, from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He moved to the United States in 1986, in pursuit of further academic and creative exploration, including doctoral studies at Columbia University in New York. This phase of his education introduced him to many avant-garde techniques and philosophies that would later become hallmarks of his unique compositional voice. Eight Memories in Watercolor was […]”
2023 Collegiate Essay Winner: Emerging Adulthood and Undergraduate Group Piano
Melody Morrison
“Typical college students find themselves in a phase of life that has been identified as “emerging adulthood”— a time when characteristics of both children and adults are present in individuals who are in their late teens to early twenties.1 Collegiate group piano classes consist of mostly first- and second-year students (likely seventeen to twenty years old) and are in the beginning stages of emerging adulthood.2 Because the students who are in undergraduate group piano classes exhibit traits of children and adults, elements from both pedagogical and andragogical teaching approaches should be applied. It is therefore beneficial for a teacher to understand the teaching methodologies which highlight the adjustment […]”
2022 Collegiate Essay Winner: Dealing With Double Notes: Practical Solutions for Small-Handed Pianists
Sarah Leonard
“Multiple lines must be maintained simultaneously, voices must be balanced so that the melody rings clear, and each line must be inflected with the proper articulation. Wide spacing between voices makes true legato difficult or impossible, causing the performer to employ pedaling tricks and unintuitive fingerings.For these reasons, double-note passages are difficult for all pianists, but even more so for those with small hands. This article will define small hands, highlight the benefits of redistributions for small-handed pianists, and explore four methods of implementing redistributions […]”
2021 Collegiate Writing Contest Winner: Uncovering Teresa Carreño: Virtuoso, Composer, and Pioneer
Grace Thompson
“Teresa Carreño’s contributions and influence have been largely overlooked by contemporary scholarship, but her legacy and impact on the world of piano literature is still relevant for today. Carreño was born on December 22, 1853, in Caracas, Venezuela. Her musical talent was quickly recognized by her family, and her father—a musician himself, although heavily involved in politics—began to teach her formal lessons when she was six years old. 1 A child prodigy, Carreño was performing in private concerts and composing short works for the piano by age eight. She was held in high regard by […]”
2020 Collegiate Writing Contest Winner: Norwegian Folk Songs: Making Rhythmic Complexities Easy and Enjoyable
Sarah Jenkins
“Developing an internal sense of metric pulse and an understanding of subdivisions of beats is essential to the success of a young performer. Without establishing a strong sense of pulse, complex rhythms can be played incorrectly. This is too often a source of frustration for students—and teachers. By choosing repertoire where these aspects are highlighted and emphasized, students gain confidence in these areas of their musical training. Some of the standard teaching repertoire used for rhythmic development can be unappealing to students, due to a seemingly high level of difficulty or lack of interest in the character. The good news is these pieces do not have to be boring—they […]”
2019 Collegiate Writing Contest Winner: Helping Students Develop a Mature “Why“
Alissa Dorman
“It was the summer before my freshman year, and I was panicking. I was struggling to determine how I planned to use a piano performance degree to significantly impact others. I knew I wanted to teach, but what was the point of teaching students how to properly press black and white keys other than providing a hobby that doesn’t kill brain cells? Well, I thought, studying the […]”
2018 Clavier Companion Collegiate Writing Contest Winner: Between the Lines: Lasting Lessons from the Studio
Jessica Welsh
“The art and science of teaching have inspired countless writings, and indeed, the significance of effective pedagogy cannot be overstated. I, too, value training students in practice and performance, but what of the interpersonal education—the subtle, but lifelong lessons—students construct from our routine exchanges? How we interact with our students, particularly on the topics of success and failure, has lasting impact on their development as healthy, functioning individuals. We lay the groundwork for fostering or hindering personal and […]”
Interested in submitting an article for the 2026 Collegiate Writing Contest? Learn more here: https://pianoinspires.com/collegiate-writing/.
MORE FROM PIANO MAGAZINE:
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Exceptional Lives In Music: A Look at the Frances Clark Center 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees by Pamela Pike
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Applying Metacognition and Embodied Learning in Piano Lessons by Chindarat Charoenwongse
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Using the Zone of Proximal Development as a Framework for Teaching Adult Avocational Pianists by Drew X Coles
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Wellness: Interleaved Practice: A Counterintuitive but Powerful Practice Method by Molly Gebrian
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Pupil Saver: “Evening Intermezzo” from Classic Touches by Jeanine Yeager Contemporary Colors, Classic Textures by Matt A. Mason
Want more than a preview?
Subscribe to unlock full videos, webinar archives, and articles!