Kent State University’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music and the College of Continuing Studies will host the third annual Piano Institute Sunday, July 20, through Wednesday, July 30.  This program will allow seventh through 12th grade students the opportunity to participate in 11 days of an intensive combination of piano lessons, masterclasses and performance opportunities.

The School of Music’s piano faculty Dr. Donna Lee and Dr. Jerry Wong will co-direct the institute, which will bring selected students from Ohio, South Carolina and China to the Kent campus.  

“The participants of the Piano Institute are wonderfully talented and accomplished. They will be challenged to grow immensely in a short period of time, in the most supportive environment,” says Lee, associate professor of music and coordinator of the School of Music’s Piano Division.

Piano Institute instructors include Lee and Wong as well as guest masterclasses with Joela Jones, principal keyboardist for the Cleveland Orchestra and Spencer Myer, international touring artist.

Each of the students will receive four, one-on-one lessons with Kent State piano faculty; participate in master classes with guest artists; attend workshops on piano wellness, sight-reading, technique, practicing, audition and competition preparation; attend musicianship and Dalcroze classes with H. Gerrey Noh, a Kent State doctoral candidate in music and adjunct professor; and enjoy picnics and recreational activities as well as cultural field trips to Porthouse Theatre and Blossom Music Center.

The Piano Institute finale will highlight student performances at a gala concert on Tuesday, July 29 at 7 p.m. at Severance Hall’s Reinberger Chamber Hall in Cleveland. The event is open to the public.

For updates and information about the Piano Institute, contact Wong at 330-672-9243 or visit the Piano Institute Web site. Please note the various locations of each event. 

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Media contact:

Rachel Wenger-Pelosi, 330-672-8046 or rwenger@kent.edu