Piano
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Bruce Thomas, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I've always thought of myself as a composer who plays rather than a player who writes. So my approach to improvising—both doing it and teaching it—is more like composing on the fly, instead of learning a lot of licks and trying to string them together. That never worked for me. Whenever I learned licks I would always spend more time trying to figure out how to cram them in where they didn't really work rather than paying attention to what improvisation is all about: trying to create the best melodies you can."
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Suzanne Davis, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I encourage students to find their own style, but not to be afraid of imitation as a learning tool. One way I learned was by listening to the artists I really like, transcribing, and playing the transcriptions. And that was very valuable. As a learning tool, it's okay to learn someone else's solo and play it."
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Joanne Brackeen, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I always ask my students what their favorite piano players are and what their goals are. The school has goals for them, too, but almost everyone has some personal goals. Use the visualization of what's inside you and let that bloom. That provides everything."
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Stephany Tiernan, Chair
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"Good pianists know how to make the instrument sing—to make the piano an extension of themselves. They have a technique that allows them to freely explore the full breadth of expressive devices available to them on a grand piano: dynamics, pedaling, articulation, tempo, phrasing, etc. They also must have a musical imagination, so that they can interpret, improvise, and shape music in a creative way."
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Steven Hunt, Instructor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department
"We musicians have our good days and our bad days. One moment we're learning something new and flying high, and the next moment we feel like a complete failure. As musicians, we're very happy to be doing what we do, but usually we're never satisfied. When I finally master a concept or a song, I hardly ever give myself a pat on the back, because by that time I've found five or six other things I want to do but can't. I see those same ups and downs with my students. They'll be elated when they learn something new one week and then really bummed the next week thinking they are not making the progress they want. Believe me, I know it's frustrating, but it's very normal for all musicians at all levels to have these seemingly extreme ups and downs."
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Ray Santisi, Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"One of the hardest things to learn is to be instantly responsive, to complement what's being played spontaneously by the soloist. I remember learning that lesson early on with Charlie Parker. We were playing a session—the tune was 'I'll Remember April.' Being young, I thought I'd show off and play a lot of chords and stuff. Here I am with an icon, trying to show off, and he stops me cold with, 'Wait a minute. I want to be able to stop anywhere in this tune, and what you're playing should fit,' meaning that the harmony should be there."
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Greg Wardson, Associate Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I hope to give students a greater understanding for what it will take for them to be better musicians and people than they were before. I like to see myself as a person who helps to show direction. To me, that's what it's all about. I think the lion's share of anything you have to do to be to be a good musician comes from oneself, but it does help to have somebody to say: 'Why don't you look over in that direction?' It's our job to show people paths that are important."
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John Arcaro, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"How to inspire a student—or whether I'm even supposed to inspire—is always a mystery. Sometimes I just play for them and that gets them excited. I also try to go hear my students perform, and go out of my way to give them positive feedback, because we're all our own harshest critics."
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"From my own background as a performer, I've learned how to prepare for a concert, how to choose the right musicians, how to choose the order of songs, and how to deal with the nerves factor. I've also had a lot of experience with other, less obvious aspects of performance, such as promotion, warming up, and memorization. I draw on this experience in my teaching."
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Leonardo Blanco, Assistant Professor
DEPARTMENT : Piano Department"I have seen the excitement on my students' faces when they consciously recognize elements from Africa, Latin America, or the Balkans in the music of other cultures. It can give them the awareness of the transformative power of music and its ability to transport a person to the other side of the world. I also hope to teach my students how to incorporate multicultural elements into their own music. Diverse ethnicity creates endless possibilities."
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