Fred Kern could light up any room. Those who knew him—and even those who didn't—couldn't help but smile anytime he was near. Dr. Kern, widely known as a clinician, author, teacher, composer, and arranger, published numerous texts on piano pedagogy and wrote more than 500 arrangements and original pieces for piano solo. Although Fred Kern passed awa...

It is inevitable that our profession will lose valued members of our community, but that does not make the loss any easier. Our colleagues touch our lives and influence our work and the work of those around us. Nancy Bachus was one of those impactful, cherished colleagues. A beloved author, clinician, performer, and friend, Nancy passed on Septembe...

It started with a simple question. On an otherwise normal fall day a few years ago, I was introduced to Bilha Ayieko, a music teacher from Kenya who was visiting the University of Georgia.1 Bilha came into my office and provided a little background about her music program at an Moi Girls' School, an all-girls' high school.2 She was a vocalist by tr...

This Editor's column will be my last for Clavier Companion. After eleven years at the helm of this magazine and its predecessor, Keyboard Companion, I have decided to step aside. Eleven years is a long time, and I have enjoyed every moment of this wonderful ride. When I accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief in 2005, it was an exciting time fille...

The Frances Clark Center is pleased to recognize the outstanding contributions of Dr. Pete Jutras. Dr. Jutras is stepping down from his role as Editor-in-Chief after serving for eleven years in that capacity. Jutras, who is Professor of Piano and Associate Director at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at The University of Georgia in Athens, GA, serv...

It's the last lesson before the recital. Garrett, age five, is playing "Graduation March," the final piece in Time to Begin from The Music Tree. The B section is made up entirely of half notes and whole notes. The good news? Garrett's rhythm is perfect; a huge improvement over last week, when all of the long notes were being cut short and the accom...

I try not to use clichés in this column, but lately I've been reminded of the ubiquitous quote, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." As commonplace as this saying is, it holds great truth. Some say this proverb dates back to Benjamin Franklin, though it is likely a paraphrase of his—Franklin used the word "prepare" in place of "plan." Over the la...

Edvard Grieg: Romantic Period Composer Born: Bergen, Norway 1843Died: Bergen, Norway 1907Famous works: Concerto in a minorPeer Gynt SuiteLyric Pieces for Piano Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born into a wealthy family in Norway on June 15, 1843. He had a brother and three sisters. He started piano lessons at the age of six with his mother, and he be...

I recently had the privilege of attending the Winter meeting of the National Association for Music Merchants (NAMM) in Anaheim, California. This is one of the two biggest music industry trade shows in the world, and it was quite a spectacle. The Anaheim Convention Center covers fifty-three acres, and NAMM occupied every inch. Imagine a main exhibit...

So happy together. An upcoming study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior finds that employees showed higher degrees of cooperation and lower degrees of self-interest when listening to happy music. Study participants took part in a public goods game that involved choices that were either self- or team-oriented. Different groups listened t...

Benjamin Grosvenor awarded new Philharmonic prize Benjamin Grosvenor is the first recipient of the Ronnie and Lawrence Ackman Classical Piano Prize, the newest prize awarded by the New York Philharmonic. In October, a confidential panel of musicians selected Grosvenor, 24, as the inaugural recipient. The award includes a ca...

I recently had the pleasure of hosting ten high-school girls from Kenya. This was their first trip to the United States, and the girls have been part of an online music teaching program at The University of Georgia, where I teach. These girls were very excited to see the U.S. and to try many new experiences. The visit was a grand success, and I'm s...

You may think that I'm losing my mind—that my elevator no longer stops at all of the floors (and you may be right), but I just saw Mozart in Motown. I wasn't in Detroit, and there wasn't any time travel involved. Indulge me for a moment, and I'll try to explain. It was late afternoon, another beautiful day in northeast Georgia. The sun was starting...

For most of our daily activities, there is an order to things. This order is usually logical and almost always functional. Taking an "out of order" approach to a routine task may render it impossible, meaningless, or absurd. Putting our shoes on before our socks, backing the car out before opening the garage door, brushing our teeth right before ea...

Piano teachers have great jobs, and I think most of us are thankful that we get to spend our days sharing something we love with our students. It is immensely gratifying to see our students grow as musicians and watch music become an important part of their lives. At times, however, it seems like the rest of the world doesn't see music study in the...

Mixed signals. We live in a time of unprecedented change. This thought is one that is expressed frequently these days—you may even find it to be clichéd. We hear it so often that we may not stop to consider what it really means, or if it is even as true as we might believe it to be. In this issue, Clavier Companion begins a series of articles that ...

In April, the world of piano pedagogy lost a legend. In the following pages, friends and colleagues of Louise Goss pay tribute with remembrances and recollections.  In the "old days," all senior piano majors at Oberlin were required to take piano pedagogy. I will never forget the excitement our professor exuded when she presented to us the bra...

Last summer, my son Andrew learned a Dennis Alexander composition entitled "Full Moon Rising" (from Simply Sensational, Book 1).Like many students playing many Dennis Alexander pieces before him, he was completely enthralled by the sound of the piece. As a teacher (and in this case a parent), I reaped the invaluable benefits of having an intrinsica...

"I'm too old to play pieces I don't like," said Heather at one of our first lessons. Heather is a retired Professor in Romance Languages and Literatures, as well as an expert on the composer Schubert. It's no surprise that her repertoire is steeped in Schubert's music. She loves it that way, and so do I. It's not always this easy picking reper...

Chances are you've seen a film by Peter Rosen. From his award-winning documentaries of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition to biographical portraits of legends from Claudio Arrau to Van Cliburn and Leonard Bernstein to Yo-Yo Ma, he has produced a legacy of more than one-hundred feature length films. These films have brought a world of m...