Piano Pedagogy Workshop 2023 

Peter Mack, featured clinician
Megan Resig, guest clinician

Dates: June 26-27, 2023

Early Bird (register by June 1)
In-Person/Virtual: $99
Virtual Only: $89

After June 1:
In-Person/Virtual: $119
Virtual Only: $109
Student: $19
Lunch: $15
Deadline for registration: June 20

RegistrationRegister (To register after the deadline, please contact Dr. Jacob Ertl, jertl2@naz.edu

Call for Masterclass ParticipantsSubmission Form

  • Deadline: Friday, June 9, 2023
  • Ages 5-18, all levels and repertoire accepted
  • Participating students must be in-person
  • Peter Mack (and/or outside panel) will select participants based on variety of levels/ages and repertoire

Schedule

Monday, June 26

1:00-2:30 ~ Lower the Rear End of the Elephant Slowly onto the Keys (part 1)
Our job as teachers is simple: know what to tell them, and try to do it in a way that they will remember. In this talk Peter Mack shares some of his most memorable metaphors that help students technically, artistically, and intellectually. Find out exactly how the hippopotamus helps you count, when the little fishies swim in the Sea of Chopin, and why the roof of the handy hen house had better not collapse!

2:30-2:45 ~ Break

2:45-4:15 ~ Lower the Rear End of the Elephant Slowly onto the Keys (part 2)

3:45 – 4:15 – Break

4:15-5:15 ~ The Art of the Phrase
It's easy to teach our students to play more musically, once we understand the basic principles of phrasing. In this entertaining and illuminating talk, Peter Mack teaches us how to recognize the basic phrase types, and how best to interpret them. Everyone can sound better, once they understand the art of the phrase!

Tuesday, June 27

9:00-10:00 ~ Not Only Für Elise: Gorgeous Unknown Compositions by Well-Known Composers
Everyone is familiar with “Für Elise”, and rightly so. However, in this lecture we will explore pieces (all by well-known major composers, most of them of mid-level difficulty) that are equally amazing, but far less familiar. Sections from over forty works are performed, and there is an extensive handout in which the difficulty for each piece is assessed, along with its publishing information. It's a fast-moving, fun talk. Nothing in the lecture lasts too long, so if you don't like a work that's being played, don't worry! It will end soon, and there'll be something different coming
along right away!

10:00-10:30 ~ Break

10:30-11:30 ~ When the Foundation has Already Been Laid: The Transfer Student
Some teachers won’t accept transfer students—"It’s fixing other people's mistakes!” But many excellent students begin with someone else. In this session, Peter Mack shares how to teach transfer students so that everybody wins.

11:30-12:00 ~ Q & A

12:00-1:00 ~ Lunch

1:00-2:00 ~ “That’s Not the Way it Goes!” Can performers serve the audience AND the composer?
Some musicians are purists, completely faithful to the composer/score. Others are entertainers, who feel that their primary responsibility is to interest the audience. In this talk, Peter Mack asks if it's possible to be both.

2:00-3:00 ~ Trauma-Informed Practices, with Megan Resig

3:00-3:30 ~ Break/Q & A

3:30-5:00 ~ Masterclass with Peter Mack

Pedagogy Workshops

    Dennis Alexander
    Ingrid Clarfield
    Marvin Blickenstaff
    Peter Mack

    Past Presenters

    2022: Dennis Alexander

    2021: Marvin Blickenstaff

    2019: Ingrid Clarfield

    2018: Julie Knerr

    2017: Jeanine Jacobson

    2016: Forrest Kinney

    2015: Wendy Stevens

    2013: Scott McBride Smith

    Contact

     Dr. Jacob Ertl, jertl2@naz.edu