Browse Piano Tricks by Contributing Author
Kate Acone
Kate Acone is an American pianist and pedagogue. She has performed internationally, including in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Room. She has presented at the MTNA’s National Conference and was the 2018 MarySue Harris Studio Teacher Fellowship recipient. She is an alumna of the Universities of Oklahoma and Michigan and is currently a DMA student at the University of Toronto.
Asher Armstrong
An Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Arkansas, Asher is a frequent performer in the US and Canada, and recently released an album of Brahms’s last keyboard works. His scholarly work has been published by Cambridge University Press, Clavier, Piano Journal, and others. Asher holds degrees from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto.
Dorothy Brandwein
Dorothy Woster Brandwein has led a very active professional life as a solo performer, chamber musician, teacher, and adjudicator throughout the Midwest. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory in 1982. In addition to her piano career, she is a concert organist and choir director, employed by churches for the past 51 years.
Explore 240 fingerings from Dorothy Brandwein in the SPECIAL COLLECTIONS.
William Brown
William Brown is the author of two books, Menahem Pressler: Artistry in Piano Teaching and Master Classes with Menahem Pressler. An active recitalist and chamber musician, he is Emeritus Professor of Music and Provost Emeritus at Southwest Baptist University.
Jimmy Cheung
Hong Kong native Chi Hoi Jimmy Cheung is an emerging pianist, educator, and collaborator based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He recently completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), under the guidance of Ran Dank and James Tocco. He currently teaches piano at CCM, CCM Prep, and Xavier University.
Deborah Cleaver
Deborah Cleaver is a faculty member of the Golandsky Institute, certified at the Master Teacher level. She holds a masters degree in piano performance from Boston University where she studied with Leonard Shure, and served as his teaching assistant at New England Conservatory. She has taught at Willamette University, Reed College, and Lewis and Clark College.
Michael Clark
Dr. Michael Clark is Assistant Professor of Piano at Baylor University and the founder of Piano Tricks. An advocate for the music of Florence Price, he has presented numerous lecture recitals on her piano music and released Waltzes and Character Pieces of Florence Price with Navona Records in February 2024. He holds a DMA from Rice University.
Photo by Natalie Gaynor
Josh Condon
Josh Condon is the Resident Music Director for Arizona Broadway Theatre in Peoria, AZ and Music Director for the Theatre Arts Department at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix, AZ. While specializing in collaborative piano and conducting for musical theatre, Josh remains an active jazz and classical pianist. B.M. Ithaca College (Jazz Studies); M.M. Arizona State University (Musical Theatre/Opera Music Direction).
Photo by Sal Pavia
Chelsea de Souza
Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist from Mumbai, India. She holds Bachelor's degrees in politics, piano performance and vocal accompanying from Oberlin College and Conservatory, and a Master's degree in piano from the Peabody Institute. She is currently working towards her doctorate at the Shepherd School of Rice University in Houston, with Jon Kimura Parker.
Photo by Haley Stage Photography
Jun Guo
Jun Guo is a pianist and a Yamaha piano teacher. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Wyoming. He is currently pursuing a DMA degree at the University of North Texas. He is also a staff pianist at the Texas Christian University.
Po Sim Head
Born in Hong Kong, Po Sim is currently pursuing the doctorate degree of piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Kansas under the instruction of Dr. Scott McBride Smith. She has over 20 years of teaching experience, with students from all over the world. Her students are active participants in piano recitals, festivals, and competitions.
Seolyeong Jeong
Korean pianist Seolyeong Jeong is currently pursuing the doctorate degree in piano performance at the Rice University with Dr. Jon Kimura Parker. She holds degrees in piano performance from Seoul National University (BM) and from Yale University School of Music (MM and MMA). She has performed internationally, including in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and Seoul Arts Center.
Timothy Jones
Tim Jones, an accomplished pianist from Wilmington, Delaware, is celebrated for his interpretations of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic repertoire. Winner of the 2017 National MTNA Competition, he has performed at Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School, and the Academy of Music in Krakow, among other venues. Currently he is pursuing his DMA at UT Austin with Anton Nel.
John Kline
John is a graduate of West Chester University and the University of Houston. He has studied with Professors Igor Resnianski and Nancy Weems. He performs regularly as a solo and collaborative artist in southeastern Pennsylvania as well as maintaining a private piano studio in West Chester, PA.
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Frances Lee
Singaporean pianist and educator Frances Lee has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral keyboardist. Dr. Lee holds the DMA and MMus (Piano Performance) degrees from The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, and BMus (Piano) and BA (German Studies) degrees from the Bard College Conservatory of Music. She studied with Melvin Chen, Brian Connelly, and Peter Serkin.
Photo by Shengyuan Zhou
Michael Lenahan
Michael Lenahan is a Houston-based pianist and teacher. He received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal and his Master's degree at Rice University with Dr. Robert Roux. His other teachers include Dr. Robert Saterlee, and Dr. Logan Skelton.
Photo by Rūta Kuzmickas
Chris Madden
Dr. Christopher Madden is Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy at University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he teaches piano pedagogy, applied piano, and oversees the keyboard skills curriculum. He has presented at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum, Collegiate Piano Pedagogy Symposium, and MTNA national conference. He has also published in Clavier Companion and American Music Teacher.
Christian McGee
Christian McGee performs as a solo and collaborative pianist throughout the United States, Germany, and Austria. She has most recently worked as a collaborative pianist for the University of Houston, as well as a rehearsal pianist and coach for Houston based opera company, Operativo. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Auburn University, studying under Jeremy Samolesky, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Houston studying with Nancy Weems.
Gabe Merrill-Steskal
A native of Ellensburg, Washington, pianist Gabriel Merrill-Steskal studies with Logan Skelton and Matthew Bengtson at the University of Michigan. An active performer on modern and period pianos, he won second prize at the 2019 Sfzp International Fortepiano Competition. He graduated summa cum laude from Whitman College in 2018, studying with David Kim and completing majors in music and chemistry.
John Patrick Murphy
Dr. John Patrick Murphy is Visiting Instructor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma where he teaches applied piano, piano pedagogy courses, and keyboard skills. He has presented nationally at the MTNA Collegiate Piano Pedagogy Symposium and at the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3) and has been published in the Clavier Companion.
Osip Nikiforov
Osip Nikiforov is a Russian pianist, who studied under the tutelage of the world-renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman at Manhattan School of Music, and is a Third prize winner of the San Antonio International Piano Competition.
James Palmer
James Palmer is a pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, noted for his passionate performing style and innovative social media projects, such as the Scriabin Preludes Project (2019-2020). He is currently a doctoral student at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, studying with Dr. Robert Roux on full scholarship. His playing has been heard in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Benjamin Pawlak
Benjamin Pawlak is currently studying Collaborative Piano at The Juilliard School with Jonathan Feldman and Lydia Brown. Additional teachers at Juilliard include Eric Huebner and J.J. Penna. Benjamin has a MM in Piano Performance from Texas Christian University, and a BM in Piano Performance from Ithaca College. Past teachers include John Owings, Vadim Serebryany, Gregory DeTurk, Jennifer Hayghe, and Nathan Hess.
Hannah Roberts
Dr. Hannah Roberts currently serves as instructor of piano at the University of Alabama, where she teaches applied piano and piano pedagogy. She maintains an active schedule as a performer and has presented nationally at the MTNA, NCKP, and GP3 conferences. She holds a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma.
Sarah Rushing
Dr. Sarah Rushing, NCTM is Assistant Professor of Piano at West Texas A&M University. As a performer, Rushing enjoys playing music off the beaten path and has appeared throughout the US. In 2013, she was featured on American Public Media’s “Performance Today.” Rushing completed her DMA at the University of Colorado Boulder in the studio of David Korevaar.
Mary Katherine Schober
Pianist Mary Katherine Schober enjoys a multifaceted career in teaching, collaborating, and performing in the greater Houston area. She runs a private studio of 40-50 students out of her Galleria location, and teaches as adjunct faculty at Lone Star College-University Park. Also serving as church organist at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, she performs regularly at various venues throughout Houston.
Photo by TimeWave Productions
Jonathan Scofield
Jonathan Scofield is a pianist and teacher based in Houston, Texas. He has collaborated with AURA Contemporary Ensemble, the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, and most recently, Moores Music in the City. He is an MTNA Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano and serves as a piano instructor and program director at Vivo Professional Music School.
Noah Sonderling
Los Angeles-based pianist Noah Sonderling holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas-Austin. He has won prizes in the IU Concerto Competition and Brevard Music Center Piano Competition and has twice been a recipient of the Aspen Music Festival Orchestral Keyboard Fellowship.
Kevin Lee Sun
A California-born, Stanford-educated medical student-turned-pianist, Kevin Lee Sun has been invited to perform a diverse repertoire around the world. For programming rarely heard works by Janáček, Rzewski, and Hyo-shin Na, Sun was named finalist of the 2021 Berlin Prize for Young Artists. Currently a DMA candidate at Eastman, Sun teaches undergraduates in applied piano lessons and studies with Alexander Kobrin.
Wade Troyer
Wade Troyer is a collaborative pianist working in the Madison, Wisconsin area. He is an alumni of the Goshen College and received his Masters in Collaborative Piano from University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he studied with Christopher Taylor and Martha Fischer.
Todd Van Kekerix
Dr. Todd Van Kekerix currently serves as a lecturer of piano pedagogy and coordinator of class piano at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He recently earned a Doctor of Music in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. Research interests include how children learn, teacher effectiveness, practice efficiency, popular music, and music wellness.
Sam Welsh
Sam Welsh received his DMA from the University of Colorado. He has performed extensively throughout the US and China and has served on the faculty of Colorado State University - Pueblo, Ithaca College, University of Colorado, and AFA-Houston. He is the founding director of Denver Musical Arts, and the Aurora, CO- based AIMCreate.
Photo by Darrin Harris Frisby
Jörg Winter
I am a seasoned amateur from Germany and studied with Jiri Hanousek, Ludmilla Smerak, Mrs. Lungu, Rudolf Kratzert and Nami Ejiri.
Learned the Alexander Technique with Rudolf Kratzert and Valentin Keogh.
Professionally working as a software developer.
