Teacher Participants
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Virginia Bigelow
Session I
Private Studio
Walnut Creek, CA
A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Virginia Bigelow was introduced to the piano early through her musical parents. She received B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance from Baylor University and the University of Houston. In 1986 Ms. Bigelow won the Grand Prize in the teacher division of the National Guild of Piano Teachers' recording competition. After teaching class piano at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California for 20 years, she now gives private lessons mainly to teenagers in her Walnut Creek studio on SOS Drive.
Ms. Bigelow ("Ginny") has performed concertos with San Francisco Bay Area orchestras more than a dozen times, and is a performing member of the Berkeley Piano Club and the Contra Costa Performing Arts Society. She also attends and performs at international summer music conferences each year. She is an avid golf fan, and her favorite pastimes are playing golf and solving Sudoku puzzles.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Sonata in B-flat major, D960 (movements I and II)
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George DeForest
Session II
Private Studio
Arlington, TX
George DeForest was born into a musical family in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, soprano Louise DeForest, performed lead roles in many local operas produced by the New Orleans Recreation Department, Loyola Opera Workshop, and New Orleans Opera Association. George was largely self-taught as a child and teenager, and began his serious study of the piano in his late teens as a student of Ellen Platamone and Melvin G. Alford in New Orleans. After receiving the performance certificate from the New Orleans Institute for the Performing Arts, he continued to study with Eleanor Statmore in Clifton, New Jersey. Upon returning to New Orleans, he resumed his activities with the New Orleans Institute for the Performing Arts where he became Vice-President and was instrumental in the formation of the New Orleans International Piano Competition. Continuing his musical education, he enrolled at Baylor University School of Music where he earned a Master of Music in piano performance under the tutelage of Krassimira Jordan. After earning an Education Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, he continued his studies with Fabio Bidini in Fort Worth, Texas and Assisi, Italy. George maintains a teaching studio in the DFW area and is a regular participant in the monthly meetings of the DFW Amateur Piano Group.
Solo Repertoire:
Schubert: Klavierstücke, D946 (No.2 in E-flat major)
Liszt: Au lac de Wallenstadt, and Au bord d'une source
from Années de Pèlerinage, S.160
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in D-flat major, Op.27, No.2
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Bobbi Goodman
Session I
Private Studio
Carrollton, TX
I hold my B.A. and M.A. in Piano Performance from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where I studied as an undergrad with Robert Prichard . I remained at “Oxy” after graduation to work on my masters degree and Junior College Teaching Credential. I had started teaching privately in my Junior year, so by staying in L.A., I could continue my private teaching and have a chance to study privately with excellent teachers such as Lillian Steuber, Aube Tzerko and Jakob Gimpel.
I joined the piano faculty at Glendale College, having done my student-teaching there, teaching all levels of Class Piano, and a few private students. I enjoyed teaching so many different things, but what I remember most was that I was encouraged to give as many Faculty recitals as I would like in their Performance Hall on their 9-foot Steinway. I obliged by giving at least one every year I taught there.
In 1974, I signed up to play in a special Master Class given by Daniel Pollack at a music store in Los Angeles, and so did a handsome young pianist named Joel Goodman. One thing led to another, and in1977 we got married It was around that time that I began studying privately with Daniel Pollack---what a magical six years of study they were!
In 1982, Joel was offered a teaching and research position at UTSW Medical School, so Joel and I and our then 1 1/2 year old daughter Rachel left Los Angeles and went to start a new life in Dallas.
I had written to contacts in Dallas while I was still in L.A., and I made appointments to meet some of them. One contact was a Professor at UNT, teaching a Chamber Music class needing pianists. I auditioned and soon had a performing class to attend, where we played in different groups for the entire summer
Within a few months I actually got an interview and audition for a faculty position at Brookhaven College (where there was a sudden opening for a piano teacher). Luckily, I had kept up my recital pieces, so I played a few pieces, and that was the interview. The next day, I got a call to come back to meet some other Faculty, and if I wanted the job, the job was mine. School began within the week, and I had a great job!
I taught private students and Piano Ensemble. One year I even talked the Department chair into letting me offer a piano ensemble class for piano teachers during the summer. It was so much fun, and the class was full.
I suppose that it shouldn't have surprised me that my private piano studio began to grow. But here in Texas, most of my new students were teachers, wanting to enrich their own teaching and performing. I was hearing the same story at many of their lessons—“They had gotten performance degrees but when it was time to begin a private studio, they didn't have the slightest idea how to teach beginners, and if an intermediate student started with them, they didn't really know what music to get for them or even what order to teach the pieces in the book”.
There was a real need for these teachers to meet together so that they could study teaching music as a group and learn about stylistic characteristics of the main periods of music.
So, in 1985, I began classes in my home for local teachers to study all aspects of piano pedagogy. These Teaching Repertoire Classes continued to meet throughout many of these years, and after a few years, a few teachers living too far away to attend the classes arranged with me to send them recordings of the classes. In April, 2008, these classes were the focus of a cover story in Clavier magazine.
For years, I had been having pain in my legs--sometimes all over my body. In 1997, I was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a kind of arthritis of the muscles. I was able to continue teaching a reduced number of students, but found that the intense preparation for recitals and classes for teachers was too demanding. I was used to being busy all of the time, but the pain made me tired, so I stayed home most of the time. That was the worst part of the disease—I was tired all of the time. I taught my students every day but I was always too tired to practice.
Thanks to all of my wonderful doctors, who knew and understood that, to me, of course I wanted less pain, but more than that, I wanted to be able to play again!
In 2007, I ran into Támas Ungár at a Music Teachers conference, and he told me all about Piano Texas. It was just what I was looking for, and In 2007, I attended TCU's Teacher Program as a Performer. There, for the first time in ten years, I got up on the concert stage and played three Preludes by Debussy by memory. I have returned almost every year, and every time I come here, I play pieces a little more difficult and a little longer than the year before.
I am definitely getting better. I have more energy and I am practicing like I used to. My teaching schedule is now almost full, and I still get calls asking when the Teaching Repertoire Classes are going to begin again. That is definitely in the future. Life is finally returning to normal.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert Moments musicaux in A-flat major, D780 - op.94 No. 2
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. Posthumous
Claude Debussy: “Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir”
Prélude from Book I
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Susan Groves
Session II
Private Studio
Austin, TX
An active pianist and private piano teacher in Austin for over 30 years, Susan Groves comes from a long line of professional pianists, including her late father, University of Texas piano professor William Race, her mother Katherine Race, who continues to teach and perform, as well as an aunt, uncle, grandmother and great-grandfather. Susan Groves' first principal piano teacher was Jean Mainous in Denton, Texas, followed by various teachers in Austin from age 11-17, including UT professor Nancy Garrett. She was the recipient of numerous prizes during her pre-college years, performing in Carnegie Recital Hall at age 11 and and with the Amarillo and Austin Symphonies at age 12. Among other awards, she was the Texas and Southwest winner of the Baldwin Junior Keyboard Award at age 14 . College studies began at the University of Toronto with Anton Kuerti, followed by the University of Texas at Austin to study with Danielle Martin, her father, William Race, and Nancy Garrett, earning a BM, MM and DMA in Piano Performance. Summer study included working with Jerome Lowenthal at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Jack Radunsky in Wisconsin, and John Perry at UT-Austin. Dr. Groves won first place in the International Piano Recording Competition, was a finalist in the National Arts and Letters' Jeunesse Musicale Competition and the winner of the UT Mozart Piano Concerto Competition, subsequently performing with the UT Symphony. From 1994-98, Susan Groves was the Director of Austin's Mostly Music Marathon, a 12-hour annual AIDS benefit featuring local musicians and other performers. Following the completion of her DMA degree in 1991, Dr. Groves and her father formed the Race-Groves Piano Duo, performing concerts throughout the United States and in China until his death in 1999. Since then, she has given numerous performances in Austin and around Texas. Dr. Groves has maintained an award-winning private piano studio in Austin for many years and was voted Pre-Collegiate Teacher of the Year in 1992 and 2006. Her students have won many important competitions, including 1st place in the Chopin International Piano Competition in Corpus Christi, the TMTA Performance Contest, Austin Symphony Youth Auditions, Pearl Amster Concerto Contest, Baylor Piano Competition, and Texas State Piano Solo Competition, as well as a $25,000 Davidson Fellowship. They have attended the Aspen Summer Institute, been featured on the radio show From the Top , and performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Plano Symphony, Austin Symphony and Austin Civic Orchestra. In addition, her students have gone on to pursue piano degrees at Juilliard, Eastman, University of Texas and the Baylor School of Music. In her spare time, Susan enjoys running, reading, traveling and spending time with her busy teenager and their two Maltese dogs.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D845
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Grace Huang
Session II
Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland, OH
GRACE HUANG is on the piano faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music where she teaches in the Preparatory and Conservatory divisions. Solo, collaborative and chamber music performances have taken her throughout the U.S. Festival appearances include Aspen, Eastern, Madeline Island, Hampden-Sydney, and PianoTexas, where she was a featured soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony in 2011. She was the recipient of several competition honors and has performed in master classes for Misha Dichter, Santiago Rodriguez, Ursula Oppens, and the Shanghai String Quartet, among others. Dr. Huang received a B.M. in Piano Performance from Vanderbilt University as a student of Craig Nies, and her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota as a student of Lydia Artymiw. A dedicated and sought-after teacher, her students have won numerous awards and honors. She is also active as clinician and adjudicator, and has served as board member at the local and state levels for MTNA. In her spare time she enjoys running and traveling.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major, D664
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Fredericka King
Session I
New England Conservatory of Music Prep
Boston, MA
Fredericka King, pianist, made her debut at Carnegie Recital Hall and has performed in the United States, Europe and South America. Appearing in recital at Boston¿s historic Jordan Hall, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, she has been the featured artist on television and public radio stations such as WGBH in Boston, WVPR in Vermont, and WGMS in the Washington, D.C. area. She has performed as soloist with several New England orchestras, and as a soloist and collaborative artist, at the National Gallery of Art, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Miss King performed numerous programs as soloist and accompanist for the National Spiritual Ensemble, touring throughout the United States and in Spain, and is a founding member of the group La Femme, La Femme, dedicated to the performance of chamber and solo works by women composers. She has recorded, live in concert, a CD of solo and vocal works by American women titled ¿Hooray for the Ladies!¿ with the group American Classics and chamber music by the African-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor as a member of the Coleridge Ensemble. Her recitals feature works of Classical composers and also highlight the works of women, American, and African-American composers, as on her CD "A Born Pianist". Last season Ms. King was invited to teach a Masterclass and perform a recital at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts as part of the Music Department¿s Piano Gala Events. In July of this year, for the National Association of Negro Musicians National Convention held in Philadelphia, she performed as soloist and accompanist on the fundraising Opera Gala concert, held to benefit their scholarship fund. Fredericka"s teaching of younger students was the inspiration for her recordings "Littlest Classics", "Midsize Masterpieces", and "BIG Classics". She designed, recorded and produced the series, with young listeners in mind and reviewers have been most positive and enthusiastic in their praise. Other projects include research and writing on the history of the Chickering piano company, and developing textbooks on music appreciation and the history of American music. Ms.King earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Boston Conservatory, a Master of Music degree at New England Conservatory and pursued doctoral studies at Boston University. She was awarded a Teaching Diploma by the Royal College of Music in London, England, and studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. King is a member of the piano faculty at New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, and maintains a busy private piano teaching studio. She is also Music Historian-in-Residence at Emerson College.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A minor, D784 - Op.143 (movement I)
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Jonathan Klein
Session II
Private Studio
Athens, GA
Jonathan Klein is a pianist and teacher living in Athens, GA., where he owns and operates a private piano studio of 50+ students. He received his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of Georgia where he was the recipient of the school's Athon-Hughes-Cook Piano Pedagogy award. In 2009 he was the sole recipient of the Steinway Piano Galleries Teacher Educator Grant for the state of Georgia. A dedicated teacher, his students regularly earn top honors at local and state level competitions and festivals. Jonathan is a member of Music Teachers National Association, Music Educators National Association, and has held several executive board positions including GMTA Vice President of Publicity, GMTA Financial Advisory Committee, GMTA State Auditions Chair, and Athens MTA President and Program Chair. He is also an active adjudicator of piano competitions and festivals throughout the Southeast. In addition to teaching and performing, he is the organist/pianist for St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens. In his spare time he sleeps and runs the occasional half-marathon.
Solo Repertoire:
Joseph Haydn: Sonata in C major, Hob.XVI/50
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Juan Li
Session I
Bethel University
Maplewood, MN
A native of China, Juan Li has established an exciting career both as a soloist and a chamber musician in her homeland and the United States. At the age of seven, she won the Young Artist Competition held in Hubei, China that determined her path to become a professional pianist. Among the awards she has received, Ms. Li was the 1st prize winner of the 1991 National Conservatory Mozart Piano Competition in Shanghai and the 1st prize winner of the Piano Chamber Music Competition at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the 1st prize winner of the concerto competition at the University of Notre Dame in 1999, the 1st prize winner of 2000 Elinor Bell Piano Competition and Fellowship in Minnesota, the 2nd prize winner of 2001 Schubert Club Music Competition, and the “2001 Performer of the Year ” award by the International Chamber Player Organization in Newark. Graduated from the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music with an academic and performance honor, Juan Li came to the United States in 1998 on a full scholarship from the University of Notre Dame to pursue her master degree in piano performance under the tutelage of William Cerny. In 2005, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a doctor degree in piano performance where she studied with Alexander Braginsky. Most recent highlight include concerts in FuZhou China during Christmas 2010 and give master classes at FuJian Arts School and Conservatory. Her performing experiences include soloist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai, City Orchestra in St. Paul, Notre Dame University Orchestra in Indiana, Bethel University Orchestra and Auburn Symphony in California. She has performed at many venues across the country such as the Harris Hall at the Aspen Music Festival, the Landmark Center and Civic Center in St. Paul, the Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall and Ted Mann Concert Hall in Minneapolis, the Annenberg Auditorium at the Snite Museum of Art in Indiana, the Sapporo Art Hall and Shimizu Bunka Kajkan Hall in Japan. In 2005, her interview and performance with the Free Radio Asia from Washington, D.C was broadcasted throughout the US and in China. As a dedicated chamber musician, Juan Li has collaborated and performed with many distinguished artists, such as John Perry, Paul Sperry, Margo Garrett, Irma Vallecillo as well as principal players from the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. She was accepted with highly competitive fellowship in the collaborative artist program both at the Aspen Music Festival and the Pacific Music Festival. Currently she is on the piano faulty at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota and is a founding member of the Bethel Chamber Players. Her hobbies include dancing, working out, cooking and watching great movies!
Solo Repertoire:
Samuel Barber: Sonata for Piano, Op.26
Schubert/Liszt: Gretchen am Spinnrade, S.558
Alexander Scrabin: Sonata No.4 in F-sharp major, Op.30
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Anthony Pattin
Session I
Professor Emeritus,
University of Montevallo
Birmingham, AL
Pianist Anthony Pattin gave his New York debut concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in the spring of 1998. In a review of that concert, the critic for the New York Concert Review called Pattin, "a pianist of definite skills and strength." Pattin performed in New York again in 2002 in the Merkin Concert Hall, and this spring he will return to Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall for a recital on May 8, 2006.
Dr. Pattin has performed concerts throughout the United States and Central America . He has recently completed a concert tour of Japan . Performing on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago , one critic said this pianist demonstrated a "surety of playing…a beauty of phrasing…and an inner confidence." Said of one of his New York recitals, "Dr. Pattin is a solid presence onstage, confident and gracious. His music making speaks of great involvement and erudition. With the ear and ability to vary tone color with constancy, his palette is a good one." (Darrell Rosenbluth , New York Concert Review).
As an orchestral soloist, Dr. Pattin has performed with the Arkansas Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Temple Symphony ( Texas ), Toledo Symphony, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony ( Alabama ). He is a featured pianist on National Public Radio and has appeared more than a dozen times on Alabama Public Television's Pianist at Work, a weekly program highlighting piano performance. This season he will appear as soloist with the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra in October, 2006.
Anthony Philip Pattin's intense enthusiasm for music and the piano began at an early age in his hometown of Toledo , Ohio , where he received his first piano lessons. In high school, when he was singled out to perform as a concerto soloist, his career was decided. He subsequently earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toledo , and the Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan , where he was a student of Theodore Lettvin and winner of the annual Concerto Competition. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Alabama in 1994. While a student at UA he studied with Professor Amanda Penick and performed with the University Orchestra as the Concerto-Aria Competition winner.
As the 2001 DeBose Artist at the Annual DeBose National Piano Competition and Festival in Baton Rouge , Dr. Pattin performed in recital, presented a master class, and was a competition judge. He has twice judged the Gladys Norris Perry Competition held in Jackson , MS . He received the 2001 Artist for the New Millennium Award bestowed by the University of Alabama for outstanding achievement in the area of performance.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Fantasy in C major, D760 - Op.15 "Der Wanderer"
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Maryjane Peluso
Session I
Private Studio
Plainville, CT
Maryjane Peluso, NCTM, is a native of Newburgh, NY; has music degrees from the Crane School of Music, SUNY at Potsdam, and the Hartt School, University of Hartford. She performs locally in recital, accompanies the Plainville Choral Society and maintains a private piano studio in Plainville, CT.
Solo Repertoire:
Felix Mendelssohn: Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, op.14
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Lavinia Kristie Wibisono
Session I
Gitanada School of Music
Jakarta, Indonesia
Started from 2006 Lavinia studied at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China under the guidance of Prof. XIE Hua-zhen, and in June 2011 she graduated from China Conservatory of Music - Beijing, China - achieving a Bachelor in Piano Performance under the guidance of Prof. GUAN Chang-xin. In the academic year of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 she was awarded Beijing International Students Scholarship 1st Prize from China Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.
She also joined several workshops and Balinese Gamelan activities under the guidance of Mr. I Gusti Kompyang Raka. Throughout her study in China, she was an active member of the Foreign Student Ensemble of China Conservatory of Music since 2007, and participated in an array of activities such as Olympic Hymn Concert, National Elegance at National Center of Performing Arts, Beijing.
In addition, she attended Burgos International Music Festival, and also Schlern International Music Festival.
In Feb 2011, Lavinia was invited as one of the soloist in “The Julie Jordan presents New York Concerti Sinfonietta“ conducted by Per Brevig. In August 2011 she presented a piano recital with Edith Widayani at “Teater Kecil” TIM, Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently she is a member of piano faculty at Gitanada school of music.
Solo Repertoire:
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata in A minor, D784
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