2021 NKU Winter Piano Pedagogy Conference

This year the NKU Winter Piano Pedgagogy Conference is taking place online via Zoom!

While we’re sad to not be meeting in person, this means that hopefully more students and teachers and students can virtually attend!

The conference will feature two sessions by Scott Price, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina School of Music. Sessions will address working with students with special needs and autism.  The conference is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Diana Belland, conference founder and long time NKU professor of music.  

While the sessions will focus on piano students, I’m sure teachers in all disciplines will find this information valuable.

To register and get access to the conference via, please email Richard Van Dyke at:  vandyker1@nku.edu.  There is no cost to attend.

 Session Details/Schedule

12:30-1:30pm

Session #1 – Autism and Piano Study I: A Basic Teaching Vocabulary

1:45-2:45pm                        

Session #2 – Autism and Piano Study II: Inside the Lesson

3:00-4:00pm

End of Sessions Recital (streamed or video)

4:00pm                         

Conference adjourns

Session Descriptions:

Session 1 – Autism and Piano Study I: A Basic Teaching Vocabulary

This session will outline basic procedures for teaching piano in the world of students with autism. With a focus on adaptive pedagogy, attendees will observe how to build and frame instruction for students with autism, and how these students develop skills in the piano lesson. Lesson videos will demonstrate the specific and detailed routines useful and necessary for fostering learning and performance success.

Session 2 – Autism and Piano Study II: Inside the Lesson

This session will consist of video demonstrations of real students with varying special needs as they navigate their lessons and recital performances. Attendees will be able to watch progressive lesson segments with students in real learning situations as they navigate repertoire, improvisation, and prepare for their performances. Special attention will focus on different learning styles of students, and on pedagogical applications that work for students with special needs, and for traditional students.

Biography of Scott Price:

Scott Price currently serves as Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina School of Music.  He is internationally recognized for his work with students with autism and other special needs and has presented solo recitals and workshops for piano teachers throughout the United States and in Canada, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. Dr. Price is creator and editor-in-chief of the on-line piano pedagogy journal Piano Pedagogy Forum, has recorded 39 compact discs of educational piano music for Alfred Publishing Company, and has published educational compositions with Alfred Publishing Company and the FJH Music Company. Awards include the Best of BGSU Outstanding Graduate alumnus award from Bowling Green State University in 2002, the 2008 MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award, being named a 2009 Music Teachers National Association Foundation Fellow, the 2012 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award for the University of South Carolina, and the 2019 Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy Outstanding Service Recognition Award. Dr. Price is the founder and director of the Carolina LifeSong Initiative dedicated to providing piano lessons and music experiences for students with special needs, and in fostering best practices in teaching and teacher training.

Recital:

A performance featuring the piano students of Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.