KAREN ANN KRIEGER Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy;
Co-Chair of the Keyboard Department
B.A. (Western Illinois); M.Mus. (Illinois) E-mail

Student of William Heiles, Roger Shields, Kenneth Cooper, James Lyke, and Ann Collins. Master classes with Ilana Vered and John Perry. Solo and chamber music performances throughout the United States. Performances with Nashville, Chicago Heights, Columbus (Georgia), Mercer (Atlanta), and LaGrange (Georgia) Symphonies. National concert tours with Neal Ramsay through Columbia Artists, New York. International clinician and performer for Alfred Publishing Company, including workshops in Cyprus, Scotland, England, and British Columbia. Author of two instructional piano books and solo piano compositions published by Alfred, Inc. Adjudicator throughout the South and Midwest. Winner, Liberace Young Artist Keyboard Search, 1980; New York Harpischord Society scholarship, 1987. Biographical citation in International Who's Who of American Women. Former television journalist. Interviews including musicians Billy Joel, Dr. John, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Hornsby, and Lyle Lovett; and presidents Carter and Reagan. Recipient of "Addy" award for television documentary. Member of faculty: University of Illinois, 1978; Columbus College (Georgia), 1978-85. Member, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda. Blair School since 1988. Karen Ann Krieger's homepage

ROLAND SCHNELLER Chancellor's Professor of Piano; Senior Artist Teacher of Piano;
Co-Chair of the Keyboard Department
B.M. (Mount Union); M.M. (Indiana)

Student of Malcolm Brown, Douglas Lee, Ray Dudley, and Lucien Stark. Recitalist and lecturer, Peabody College Seminar in Piano Teaching, 1969-77. Nashville Area Music Teachers Association Teacher of the Year, 1985. Tennessee Governors School for the Arts Outstanding Teacher Award, 1990, 1994, 1999. Member of faculty, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1970-74. Chair, Blair Precollegiate Scholarship Program since 1967. Recipient, Chancellor's Chair, Blair School. Blair School since 1964.

MARTHA BARTLES Adjunct Senior Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M. (Univ.of Miss.), M.F.A ( Ohio University)

Student of Mark Hoffmann,Eugene Jennings, James Friskin, Artur Balsam (Kneisel Hall, lue Hill, Maine), Ernst von Dohnanyi (Master Classes). An experienced teacher of piano, Martha Bartles has been on the faculty of several music schools in Germany, including the Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik Stuttgart and the Paedagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg. She was also resident pianist at the Eurythmeum Stuttgart and toured with that company in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, France and in the United States and Canada. In America she taught at Tennessee Technological University and many summers at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. For several years she was invited to be on the juries of national piano competitions in Germany and the Czeck Republic. Bartles was an active chamber music recitalist and accompanist in New York City for many years. Blair School of Music since l997.

AMY DORFMAN Associate Professor of Piano
B.M., Performer's Certificate, M.M. (Indiana) E-mail

Student of James Tocco and Alfonso Montecino. Additional studies with Rosalyn Tureck at the Banff Centre and Edith Oppens at the Aspen Music Festival. Chamber music coaching with Josef Gingold, Janos Starker, Pierre Fournier, Menachem Pressler, and Walter Roberts. Concerto appearances with Nashville Symphony Orchestra. National Public Radio and TV appearances with bassist Edgar Meyer including Lonesome Pine Special and St. Paul Sunday Morning as well as recitals at Tully Hall and Town Hall in NY and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Guest artist at summer festivals including Sedona Music Festival and Music Mountain in Connecticut with the Blair String Quartet and Mozart Festival in California and Northwest Chamber Music Festival in Oregon with Mr. Meyer. Member of Dorfman/Katahn Duo with pianist Enid Katahn since 1991. Member of Blakemore Trio with violinist Carolyn Huebl and cellist Felix Wang since 2002. Students have attended undergraduate and graduate programs at Indiana University, North Texas State University, Oxford University, University of Oklahoma, and Gnessin Academy in Moscow as well as Aspen, Eastern, Sewanee, IU Piano Academy, and Interlochen. Students have been winners of state division competitions(TMTA), Vanderbilt Concerto Competition, Curb Records(soloist with Nashville Symphony Orchestra). Individual Artist Fellowship Award, TN Arts Commission, 1990. Additional faculty positions at University of the South(1983/84) and Fisk University(1985/86). Blair School since 1984.

ELIZABETH ECKERT Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M. (Indiana) E-mail

Student of Jeremy Denk, Evelyne Brancart, Anna Balakerskaia. Winner: ALEX award for the Performing Arts (National Alliance for Excellence, Inc.), Indiana University Piano Concerto Competition. Finalist: National Symphony Orchestra Young Soloists' Competition. Soloist: Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, Levine Chamber Orchestra (Washington, D.C.). Performances throughout East Coast and Midwest including Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall (debut presented by NAE), Kennedy Center Concert Hall (NSO Competition Finals), Smithsonian Institute, Musical Arts Center (Indiana). Teaching posts include Indiana University Young Pianists' Program, 2001-2004. Blair School since 2004.

EDWARD FOOTE Adjunct Instructor of Music
B.F.A. (Louisiana Tech)

Additional studies: New England Institute for Stringed Keyboard Technology. Freelance piano technician for Nashville recording studios, performance venues and homes since 1976. Piano technician for Blair School of Music since 1978. Historical tuning presentations throughout Middle Tennessee since 1993. Blair School since 1997.

CHIHEE HWANG Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M., M.M. (Hanyang University), M.M.(University of Tennessee) E-mail

Student of David Brunell and Eun-Mo Chung (Piano); Fay Adams and Patricia Z. Carter (Piano Pedagogy). Solo and chamber recitals in Korea and United States. Certified to teach Orff Schulwerk, Suzuki, and Robert Pace piano teaching method. Graduate Teaching Assistant, teaching class piano at The University of Tennessee, 2002-2004. Blair school since 2005.

SHEREE KOUTSOUKOS Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano E-mail

MAUREEN MAY Adjunct Instructor in Piano
B.M. (Belmont University); M. Mus. (Belmont) E-mail

Composer of piano solos and ensembles published by FJH Music Company, Fort Lauderdale, FL. Owner and manager of MM Music Studios in Nashville, 1990-2009, offering instruction in piano, voice, and guitar. Adjudicator for piano competitions in Middle Tennessee. Television appearance in 2007 on HGTV "Look What I Did!" for artistic music studio. Graduate teaching assistant and intern at Belmont University. Vice President of Nashville Area Music Teachers Association, 2005-2006. Presenter at American College of Musicians. Session singer in Nashville, New York, Seattle, and Tacoma. Recording artist on LoneTree Records, Port Orchard, WA, and Lullabyland Records, Nashville, TN. Performer at colleges and universities throughout the Midwest and Western United States and Canada, and at folk festivals in Edmonton, Seattle, and San Diego. Artist and composer on KEZX radio station's "Best of Seattle" competition album. Touring artist with the National School Assemblies Agency, North Hollywood, CA. Member of NAMTA, American College of Musicians, Federation of Music Teachers, Music Teacher's National Association, Phi Theta, Kappa, Pinnacle Honor Society, and Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Blair since 2007.

VALERIE MIDDLETON Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano
E-mail

Piano study with Lewis Hamvas, Peter Amstutz and Paul Parmelee and voice study with Leon Thurman, Stanley Rishoi, Kuniaka Hata and Glenda Maurice. Coached with Claude Frank and John Reed. Ms. Middleton appeared in solo, concerto solo and chamber recitals in the United states, England and Austria in both piano and voice. She has taught piano at Yankton College, the Jenkintown Music School, The Shipley School, Augustana College and St. Paul Academy. She directed award-winning choirs in Pennsylvania and Texas, as well as sang with the Dale Warland symphonic chorus and Concentus Musicus. Ms. Middleton holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Vocal Music Education from Yankton College and a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Blair faculty since 2007.

CRAIG NIES Associate Professor of Piano
B.M. (Curtis); M.M., M.M.A. (Yale); D.Mus.A. (SUNY, Stony Brook) E-mail

Piano studies with Gilbert Kalish, Beveridge Webster, Rudolf Serkin, Claude Frank, Mieczyslaw Horszowski. Coaching with 10 Pulitzer Prize winning composers, including Elliott Carter, Donald Martino, Leon Kirchner, George Perle, Charles Wuorinen. Chamber music coaching with members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, and Budapest Quartets, and performances with members of the Mendelssohn, Franciscan, Alexander, Blair, and New York Woodwind Quintet. Complete works of Debussy for solo piano performed in four recitals and broadcast on NPR. New York performances include Tully Hall (solo debut), Merkin, Kaufman, and Town Hall. Several premiere performances including three in New York City and three works of Blair composer Michael Rose in 2000-2001. Radio and Television in Germany, England and Russia.
During the summer of 2006, Mr. Nies will join the piano faculty of the Brevard Music Center. Previous summer festivals have included Music Mountain (CT), Rutgers Summerfest (NJ), Music '98 (Cincinnati, OH), Summer Serenades at SUNY Stony Brook, Yale at Norfolk (CT), and Highlands (North Carolina/Georgia). The 2000-2001 season included concerto appearances in Canada and the Czech Republic. Recent projects include performances of the complete sonatas for piano and violin/cello of Beethoven (2001-2003), the complete solo works of Rachmaninoff (in progress), and the complete piano sonatas of Mozart and Schubert beginning in the fall of 2003 and Bach's "Goldberg" Variations, with the final concert on Mozart's birthday in January 2006.
Students of Dr. Nies have been winners of the Vanderbilt Concerto Competition eleven of the past twelve years (1995-2006), including three winners in 2004. Since 1996 they have participated in master classes at Blair with Emanuel Ax, Claude Frank, Misha Dichter, Lee Luvisi, Seymour Lipkin, Robert Weirich, Gilbert Kalish, and Menahem Pressler, as well as with Paul Badura-Skoda at the 1998 MTNA National Convention. Two of his Blair majors performed solo recitals in Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall in 2003. Students both attended and have been accepted to graduate study at several major music schools, including Juilliard, Eastman, Cleveland Institute, Michigan, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, Mannes, Manhattan and Peabody. Summer music programs including Aspen, Eastern Music Festival, the Van Cliburn Foundation, and Fontainebleau, France. Member of faculty: Yale University School of Music, 1980-1986. Blair School since 1991.

JAMA REAGAN Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M. (North Carolina School for the Arts); Diploma (Guildhall School of Music); Diploma (Royal College of Music) E-mail

Student of Robert McDonald, Anne Epperson, Marian Hahn, Benjamin Kaplan, and Eric Larsen. Solo recitals in eastern and southern United States and in England. Member: Fox-Towse Duo, 1989; Clarion Duo, 1991-94. Radio and television appearances, 1988, 1990. Member of faculty: Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Community Music School, 1986; Haddonfield School of Creative and Performing Arts (New Jersey), 1992-97. Private studio, 1987-97. Blair School since 1997.

MELISSA ROSE Associate Professor of Piano; Assistant Dean
B.M. (West Chester University); M.M. (Yale); D.M.A. (Michigan) E-mail

Student of Martin Katz, Donald Currier, and Vladimir Sokoloff. Coaching with Margo Garrett, Geoffrey Parsons, Seymour Lipkin, Gary Graffman, Claude Frank. Collaborative performances in chamber music and song recital settings throughout the United States and in Argentina and Russia. Opera coaching, master classes, and lectures nationally. Featured on radio broadcasts in Russia, New York City, Iowa, Kansas, and Nashville. Pianist for numerous new music premieres and composer residencies. Pianist, Summerfest Chamber Music Series (Kansas City), since 1994, and Arlington Trio, 1990-95. Official accompanist for national competitions. Member of faculty: Interlochen Arts Camp, 1988; Truman State University, 1988-1996. Member, Pi Kappa Lambda. Blair School since 1996.

CARL SMITH Senior Lecturer of Theory and Composition, Organ and
Harpsichord
B.Mus.(Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory) M.Mus.(Washington University) E-mail

Additional studies with Anton Heiller and Gustav Leonhardt. Concerts, workshops, and lectures throughout the United States. Commissions, premieres, and performances in London, New York, Philadelphia, Austin, and St. Louis. Publications of choral, vocal, and instrumental works and articles. Annual concerts in Italy as well as nationally as organist, harpsichordist, conductor. Minister of Music, Delmar Church (St. Louis) 1973-1983; Director of Music and Organist, The Ethical Society of St. Louis, 1983-1985; Organist and Choirmaster, Trinity Presbyterian Church (St. Louis), 1985-1998; Member: American Guild of Organists; IRAS (The Institute for Religion in an Age of Science). Motet "God of Creation" chosen for performance for His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Faculty member, Washington University 1982-1998. Blair School since 1998.

PATSY B. WADE Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M. Birmingham Southern College; M.M. George Peabody College E-mail

Student of Delores Howard, Sam Howard, Enid Katahn. Master classes/coaching sessions/performances with Dalton Baldwin, Clara O'Brien, Barbara Honn, Ruth Golden, Robert Harris, Darryl Taylor, and composers Libby Larsen, David Burge, Rhian Samuel, Lee Hoiby, Richard Hundley, Kenton Coe, Frederic Goossen, Seymour Barab, Persis Vehar, and Elizabeth Vercoe. Solo, chamber music, collaborative artist performances sponsored by National Endowment for the Arts, Tennessee Arts Commission, Nashville Institute for the Arts, Community Arts Associations (South and Midwest U.S), NATS Regional and National Associations, Allied Artists Management. Recitals/Concert appearances: WGBH Boston, PBS, NPR, International Congress of Women in Music, National Gallery of Art, Studio C Nashville, Quad Cities Arts Series (Iowa), Chapel at Ground Zero/NY, two concert season tours (Midwest) "An Evening of American Music" (saxophone/piano-Neal Ramsay Duo), thirty year collaboration as pianist with Sharon Mabry, Mezzo Soprano; pianist for thirty-two summer concert tours across U.S. with teenage youth choirs, Brentwood United Methodist Church, performing traditional choral anthem repertoire as well as staged musical productions. Vocal coach/accompanist operas: Marriage of Figaro/Mozart, A Perfect Plan/Barab, George Sand and...Chopin?/Vehar, Street Scene/Kurt Weill, and Gianni Schicchi. Hundreds of solo and collaborative concerts with guest artists, faculty colleagues, and students throughout the U.S. and Great Britain. Member Sigma Alpha Iota "Friend of the Arts." Member of faculty: George Peabody College for Teachers 1971-72; Blair Academy of Peabody College 1972-1980; Austin Peay State University Guest Artist since 1975-faculty appointment 1997-2007; Belmont University since 2006. Blair School of Music since 1972.

DEANNA WALKER Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano, Director of Blair Songwriting Program
B.M. (Eastern New Mexico University); M.M. (Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University) E-mail

Staff writer for Zavitson Music Group (ZMG). (Recent cuts by Kenny Rogers, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Rissi Palmer. Recent unreleased cuts by Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire.) Taught songwriting workshops for adults and children across the US, England and Canada. Student of Morris Cotel, Jean Eichelberger-Ivey, Thom Uchtmann. Co-author of Alfred's Basic Piano Library, Composition Books Level 1-3 (over 50,000 sold). National chair of Music Teachers National Association Composer Commissioning Program, 2003-2005. Independent clinician and speaker at national, division, state and local conventions of Music Teachers National Association. Regular publication of journal articles. Numerous commissions. Family Plot in Four Scenes for soprano and piano chosen for performance at the CMS International Conference in Costa Rica (June, 2003); Had national student composition winner (MTNA) in 1998. Blair School since 1998.

AGNES WAN Adjunct Artist Teacher of Piano
B.M. (Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts); M.M., M.M.T. (Loyola University); DMA (University of Iowa); Artist Diploma in Piano (University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music) E-mail

Student of Gabriel Kwok, Nancy Loo, Jac McCracken, Uriel Tsachor, James Tocco, and Michael Chertock. Private studies on Bach's keyboard music with Yuan Sheng, who studied with Rosalyn Tureck. Three-time participant of the Prague International Piano Masterclasses. Resident Artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, 2003-4. Winner of the 1999 Loyola Concerto/Aria Competition, 2001 University of Iowa All-University Concerto/Aria Competition, 2001 Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges/Universities Award, 2003 University of Iowa Chamber Music Competition, 2005 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, and 2006 Artists International Special Presentation Award. Author, Physical and Mental Issues in Piano Performance: The Interrelationship Between Physical Tension, Performance Anxiety, and Memorization Strategies, to be published by VDM-Verlag in late 2008. Faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in the summers. Concerto appearance with the Loyola Chamber Orchestra, University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra, and Maryville Orchestra. Solo performances in Hong Kong, Japan, Paris, and various locations in the United States including Merkin Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. Upcoming recital engagements in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Illinois, including a solo recital organized by the PianoForte Foundation in Chicago to be broadcasted on radio. Blair School since 2008.