Butler Piano Pedagogy Symposium
Presenter Biographies
E.L. Lancaster brings a variety of teaching experiences to his position as Vice President/Keyboard Editor-in-Chief of Alfred Publishing Company. From 1979 to 1998 he was on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma, Norman where he taught piano pedagogy and coordinated the group piano program. Lancaster established the masters and doctoral programs in piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma in 1980. During his tenure there, he served as major professor for over fifty doctoral dissertations in the field of piano pedagogy. His students serve on faculties of colleges and universities and operate independent piano studios throughout the country. Simultaneously, he taught pre-college students in the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program combining group and private instruction. In addition, he and his wife, Gayle Kowalchyk, operated a large independent piano studio in Norman, Oklahoma from 1981 until 1996. Currently, he also serves as consulting editor of Clavier and is a regular writer for the “Question and Answer” column for that magazine. He is the author or co-author of over 200 publications designed for students of all ages from pre-school through adults published by Alfred Publishing Company (including the Music for Little Mozarts series and Alfred’s Premier Piano Course).
Steve Roberson is professor of music in the School of Music and associate dean of the Jordan College of Fine Arts, where he coordinates the piano pedagogy program. He has published 35 articles on various subjects related to piano teaching, particularly regarding piano technique and motivational strategies. He has also spoken at more than 90 music conferences throughout the U.S. and Europe. In 2000, his biography of the celebrated Hungarian pianist, Lili Kraus, was published. He has served as president of the Indiana Music Teachers Association, which awarded him the “Indiana Music Teacher of the Year” award in 1995. He has also twice received the Music Teachers National Association’s “Article of the Year” award.
Kate Boyd has performed as a soloist on many concert series and as a guest artist with established chamber music ensembles throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Among many other performances, she has appeared on the Trinity Chapel Series in New York, the SOLO series in Sligo, Ireland, and performed Schubert in Schubert’s birth house in Vienna, Austria. In addition to performing standard works of the piano literature, she has a long-standing interest in commissioning new works and performing works by living composers. In Dublin, Ireland, she was a featured performer on the Bank of Ireland’s Mostly Modern Series, performing works by contemporary women composers. She is a founding member of the New York-based Oracle Trio, a piano trio that has performed many contemporary works. She recently recorded a CD consisting entirely of previously-unrecorded works for solo piano composed since 1993, which will be released on the Capstone label in 2008. She is currently Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Piano Studies at Butler University.
Deborah Norin-Kuehn has dedicated her performance career to interpreting contemporary vocal repertoire, premiering and interpreting works of our time, without neglecting the traditional fare. Norin-Kuehn has performed under the batons of Peter Bay, David Hayes, Aaron Jay Kernis, Oliver Knussen, and been featured throughout the U.S., Canada, England, France, Germany, and Italy with orchestras, ensembles and select artists including Ensemble 21, the June in Buffalo Chamber Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Singers, pianists Jeffrey Jacob, Margaret Kampmeier and Marilyn Nonken, and her duo Vox Electroacoustica. Her discography features recordings on the Living Artists and Seamus labels, and a forthcoming release on Bridge Records. She has been a voice faculty member at Bowling Green State University and St. Mary’s College, and currently teaches at Heidelberg College in Ohio.
Anna Briscoe is an active solo recitalist and accompanist. She has performed at national meetings of the College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association and the American Musicological Society. Performances internationally have included London and Paris. She has also performed extensively in the South and Midwest, most recently in a performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with the Indianapolis Philharmonic Orchestra. Past teaching positions include the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Wabash College. In addition to her Butler University teaching, Ms. Briscoe maintains a private studio and is a regular accompanist for the touring choirs of the Indianapolis Children's Choir.
