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Faculty

The members of our faculty are more than teachers. They’ll be your mentors, your collaborators, and your instant list of more than 500 industry contacts. They are experienced and talented professionals in their field—and bring a thorough knowledge of music to the classroom that comes from a rich professional background in the music industry. They also bring an energy that will inspire you to push your talents and thinking beyond what you thought were the limits. You’ll find yourself transferring their influences to your ensemble rehearsals, performances, recording sessions, and gigs. In addition, the student-teacher ratio averages 8 to 1. Which means you’ll never feel like a number.

Find a faculty member

Francesca Tanksley, Associate Professor

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

"Respecting the person, the unique direction in which want to go, and their all-around potential, are most important. In this atmosphere, students find a safe environment in which to further explore their own musical voice, while continuing to hone their technique. And the result, they tell me, is real interest and dedication."

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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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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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Jason Yeager, Instructor

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

"It is important for students to really listen to their sound. It’s easy to think, 'I just press a note, and if it is a good piano, it will sound good.' But it’s much more than that. I coach students on their physical approach—the posture and positioning of their hands, arms, legs, where they sit, and so on. I want students to develop a good, personal sound on the piano, staying true to their musical personalities, while avoiding injury and strain."

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Robert Christopherson, Associate Professor

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

"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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Paul T. Schmeling, Chair Emeritus

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

  • B.M., Boston Conservatory of Music
  • Graduate studies, Boston University
  • Performances at numerous festivals, on radio and television, and with Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Carol Sloane, Slide Hampton, and Ernestine Anderson
  • Recordings with Dick Johnson, Phil Wilson, Herb Pomeroy, and Rebecca Parris

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Bob Winter, Professor

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

  • B.M., Boston University
  • Extensive experience in clubs, television, radio, and theaters, including performances with Henry Mancini, Teddy Wilson, Buddy DeFranco, Mel Torme, Luciano Pavarotti, Eddie Daniels, Stan Getz, Cleo Laine/John Dankworth, and Airto Moreira
  • Pianist for the Boston Pops Orchestra under John Williams and Keith Lockhart
  • Recordings with the Boston Pops Orchestra and in solo, duo, and quartet settings

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Alon Yavnai, Associate Professor

DEPARTMENT : Piano Department

  • B.M., Academy of Music at the Hebrew University, Israel
  • B.M., Berklee College of Music
  • Studies at the Gyvataim Conservatory, Israel
  • Performances and recordings credits with Yo-Yo Ma, Paquito D'Rivera, Joe Lovano, Freddie Hubbard, Louis Hayes, Nancy Wilson, Rosa Passos, Leni Andrade, New York Voices, and Regina Carter
  • Winner of two Grammy Awards and two Latin Grammy Awards

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