Piano Pedagogy Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Keynote Speakers

photo Brian Chung
Life Shaper or Artist Maker?

Every piano teacher wants to have a significant impact on the world. But the ways in which we view the role and purpose of our teaching can either increase or constrain our impact on students, communities and society. Brian Chung will discuss two of the figurative "lenses" teachers often use to view their role - the Life Shaper and the Artist Maker - and explain how the proper use of these lenses can empower all teachers to maximize their impact on the world.

Brian Chung is Senior Vice President of Kawai America Corporation, president of the Piano Manufacturers Association International, chair of the MTNA Foundation Fund Development Committee and co-author of Improvisation at the Piano: A Systematic Approach for the Classically Trained Pianist.

photo José Antonio Bowen
Beethoven as Bill Gates: Opportunities for Music Educators in the New World Economy

Artists have always been the first adopters of technology. This session will explore some of the opportunities that the current emphasis on creativity, entrepreneurship, and globalization present to piano teachers. Our students know the value of craft and creativity, but how can we broaden the applications of what we teach while not diluting what we do best?

José Antonio Bowen is Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. He has written over 100 scholarly articles and received a NEH Fellowship for work on his book The Conductor and the Score: A History of the Relationship between Interpreter and Text from Beethoven to Wagner. Bowen, a jazz performer as well as conductor, has been a pioneer in active learning and the use of technology in the classroom.

photo Sarah Johnson
Musicians of the Future ...and Your Role

In this address Sarah Johnson will share inspirational projects she has directed, explaining the underlying principals that make these projects successful, and articulating your key role in training the flexible and skilled young musicians who will lead in the 21st century.

Sarah Johnson received her bachelor's and master's degrees in oboe performance from The Juilliard School. She now serves as Director of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, where she is responsible for developing and overseeing all educational and community activities at Carnegie Hall as well as strategic planning on a local, national, and international level. Prior to joining Carnegie Hall in April 2007, Ms. Johnson served as Director of Education and Community Partnerships at The Philadelphia Orchestra.

photo Debra Brubaker Burns
What a Journey! Celebrating Thirty Years of the NCPP/NCKP

In this historical travelogue, well-tempered piano teachers guide us through expanding collegiate pedagogy programs and mountain ranges of teaching materials. And for thirty years along that journey, NCPP and NCKP serve as travel centers, encouraging and training independent and school-affiliated keyboard teachers for current and future musical adventures with their students.

Debra Brubaker Burns, Ph.D. enjoys celebrating the piano and keyboard instructors who so influenced her life. Her research focuses on the history of piano teaching in the United States.

Panel Discussion
Louise Goss, Frances Larimer, James Lyke, Robert Pace, and Marienne Uszler
Overview of Piano Pedagogy in the USA

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy, this panel reunites leaders in the field who were instrumental in NCPP's establishment, development and success. They will offer their perspective on piano pedagogy in the decades leading up to the first NCPP conferences, and will assess the achievements of the NCPP and NCKP conferences and their committees.