Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy

An active soloist and chamber musician, American pianist Kate Boyd has performed solo recitals at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Schubert’s birth house in Vienna, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, the Musikhalle Hamburg, in addition to many places throughout the US, Europe and Canada. As a faculty member at Butler University, she has appeared as a soloist with each of the University’s large ensembles in performances ranging from Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Dr. Boyd’s first solo CD, Music for the End of Winter (Ravello), consists of previously-unrecorded works for solo piano by composers Daniel Koontz, Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, Howard Frazin and John Halle. Her most recent solo CD, Sonatas and Interludes by John Cage (Navona), was met with critical acclaim and has received hundreds of thousands of downloads and streams to date.

For more than ten years, Dr. Boyd was a founding member of the New York-based Oracle Trio, a trio that performed works from the 18th century to the present. She has performed dozens of chamber music works, including a televised performance of George Crumb’s Music for a Summer Evening, for two pianos and two percussionists; and John Corigliano’s Chiaroscuro, for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart. In addition to her work as a soloist and chamber musician, Boyd has performed in multimedia collaborations with other disciplines, including the Orbit Dance Centre dance troupe in Northern Ireland and live performances with the dance program at Butler University. 

As an educator, Boyd has presented lectures and workshops at state, regional, and international conferences, including the International John Cage Conference in Malaysia, the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference, the MTNA National Conference, the College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference, and various state conferences. As an adjudicator, she has judged for events including the Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the ISSMA state competition, the MTNA Southern Division Competitions, and Stickley Piano Competition. For three years Dr. Boyd served on the national Fulbright screening committee for piano applicants. She regularly gives invited masterclasses and workshops to students through teacher organizations and universities, and has worked with students of all ages.

Boyd received the 2019 Teacher of the Year award from the Indiana Music Teachers Association and the 2017 Outstanding Professor of the Year award from Butler University, a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis (2009), and an Indiana Arts Commission Grant. Other awards and prizes include a Fulbright scholarship and fellowships at the Tanglewood Center, Blossom Music Center, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and Prussia Cove (England).

Boyd received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory, her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University, and a Diploma from the Hannover (Germany) Academy of Music. She also received a Fulbright Grant to attend the Cologne (Germany) Academy of Music. Major teachers include Gilbert Kalish, Arie Vardi, Arbo Valdma, and Sedmara Rutstein. In addition to her major teachers, she received extensive coachings and attended residential masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Peter Serkin, Gyorgy Sebok, John Perry, Reinbert DeLeeuw, and Ronald Copes, among others.

Kate Boyd is Professor of Piano and Piano Area Coordinator at Butler University. For eleven summers she taught at the internationally-renowned Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan, where she was head of piano faculty for four of those years. Before coming to Butler, she was on the faculty of Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio, and for ten summers taught at Kinhaven Music School, in Weston, Vermont.

In 2021, Dr. Boyd started a YouTube Channel, The Piano Prof, where she uploads instructional videos geared toward high school, collegiate, graduate, and adult amateur pianists, as well as piano teachers. You can find it here.

Dr. Boyd has a weekly newsletter with practice tips and updates on her performance schedule. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. 

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Dr. Becky Baker resides in Carmel Indiana with her husband and their two active kids. A native of Michigan, Dr. Baker holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, a Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy from Butler University, and Bachelor of Music degrees in Piano and Flute Performance from Western Michigan University. 

Dr. Baker joined the School of Music faculty at Butler University in the fall of 2023 when she stepped into the role of overseeing the graduate program in piano pedagogy. In addition to her work at Butler, Dr. Baker is also on faculty at Taylor University where she is the Director of the Center for Musical Development (CMD). The CMD offers private piano lessons taught by Taylor piano students, giving them practical experience in teaching young learners. Dr. Baker also teaches piano pedagogy courses at Taylor University. She is passionate about teaching and mentoring the next generation of piano teachers at Butler University and Taylor University.  

In addition to her collegiate positions, she has been operating an independent music studio, teaching piano lessons for over 34 years to elementary ages through adults. She considers it a true joy and blessing to be in the profession of piano teaching.