Keyboard Performance
The keyboard performance program within the School of Music includes instruction in piano, organ, jazz piano, and harpsichord, contributing to a variety of degree plans. Besides private instruction, courses are offered in accompanying, organ registration and literature, keyboard harmony and other skills, supervised teaching, and piano and organ pedagogy. The keyboard faculty includes four full-time faculty members as well as several part-time faculty members, with a combined experience in university teaching exceeding 200 years.
Many students choose to major in performance, which includes a strong teaching component. The performance degree prepares students for professional work as performers and studio teachers, and is the suggested degree for those who wish to pursue their instrument as a career. Some students in other degrees, such as jazz studies, elementary education, media music, and composition take keyboard instruction as part of their degree plans as well.
Degrees of Performance
About Piano Studies
Undergraduate students pursuing the piano performance degree at Brigham Young University will have access to a variety of specialized courses designed to ensure success in the professional world. The degree offers four years of intensive training in performance skills, piano pedagogy, collaborative performance, and piano literature. Individual attention is at the heart of all course work, with students being personally mentored by the entire keyboard faculty during their duration at BYU. Along with keyboard studies, students will receive instruction in core classes such as music theory, history, ear training, large ensembles, and conducting.
Substantial performance opportunities are provided on campus, including solo recitals, weekly masterclasses, in-school competitions, joint recitals, and frequent chamber music performances. Each year, students participate in masterclasses and private lessons with visiting guest-artist teachers. Recent guests of the piano area have included Norman Krieger (University of Southern California), Nelita True (Eastman School of Music), Menahem Pressler (Indiana University), Arkady Aronov (Mannes College, Manhattan School of Music), Alan Chow (Northwestern University), Angela Cheng (Oberlin), Douglas Humpherys (Eastman School of Music) Arthur Greene (University of Michigan), as well as Martin Jones, Claude Frank, Andre-Michel Schub, Kevin Kenner, Frederic Chiu, Barbara Nissman and many others.
Following graduation, BYU students have been accepted to some of the most prestigious graduate programs in the world, including the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music, University of Michigan, Northwestern, Peabody Conservatory, University of Southern California, Yale, London’s Royal Academy of Music, and Italy’s International Piano Academy at Lake Como, among many others. Upon completion of their education, BYU graduates enjoy successful careers in teaching and performing from local to international levels.
