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Amy Aberg McLelland NCTM
Hoover, Alabama | C: 205-908-5830 | [email protected]
Summary
Pianist, teacher, lecturer, adjudicator, expert in injury prevention and ergonomic piano technic. Teaching philosophy centered on discovering new and effective ways to challenge students, inspire artistry, and nurture talent, always placing the welfare of students over any personal gain. Versatile pianist, accompanist, and collaborative artist, composer, and church musician.
Core Qualifications
Achievements
Professional Experience
Education and Training
Post-Graduate Studies, 1990 to Current
Bachelor of Music, Piano Performance, Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts, 1986
Randolph School, Huntsville, Alabama, (K-12 except for Freshman year at NCSA)
North Carolina School of the Performing Arts (ballet major, piano minor), 1978-1979
Certifications
Volunteer Work
Affiliations
Lectures and Presentations _
Personal Information
References _
Edna Golandsky, Founder and Artistic Director of The Golandsky Piano Institute, NY, NY;
Frances Schwemmer;
John Bloomfield, Faculty Chair The Golandsky Piano Institute, NY, NY
Daniel Szasz, violinist and ASO concertmaster
Dr. Melissa West
David O’Steen, St. Phillip’s Church, Jackson, MS
Hoover, Alabama | C: 205-908-5830 | [email protected]
Summary
Pianist, teacher, lecturer, adjudicator, expert in injury prevention and ergonomic piano technic. Teaching philosophy centered on discovering new and effective ways to challenge students, inspire artistry, and nurture talent, always placing the welfare of students over any personal gain. Versatile pianist, accompanist, and collaborative artist, composer, and church musician.
Core Qualifications
- Award winning pianist whose playing has been described as “ravishing, with a wonderful variety of tone colors and nuance of interpretation.”
- Piano teacher in colleges, universities, and independent studios for over 30 years.
- Expert in injury prevention, piano wellness, and the Taubman Approach coaching concert pianists and professional musicians from around the world to discover new levels of freedom and virtuosity, overcome technical and musical limitations, pain, fatigue, and even injury. Based upon a thorough understanding of coordinate movement, the Taubman Approach provides a vocabulary to describe the motions that function underneath a virtuoso technique and allows pianists to develop the skills required to play difficult music with greater tonal control, accuracy, clarity, and speed.
- Collaborative artist, most recently performing with Alabama Symphony Orchestra members and concertmaster, Daniel Szasz.
Achievements
- Nationally Certified Teacher through MTNA, 1990-present
- Certified teacher Golandsky Piano Institute, 2011
- Member Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society
- 1990 State Winner for Alabama and Southeastern Regional prize winner of the MTNA Collegiate Artist Competition
- Winner Huntsville Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Audition
- Louise McAllister Scholarship
- Luke A. and Mary M. Wood Scholarship
- Hindman Foundation Fellowship
- Recipient MTNA Teacher Enrichment Grant
- Students regularly receive the highest ratings in competitions and are recipients of numerous awards and scholarships
- Recipient “Best of Hoover Award in Music Education” 2019 and 2020, Membership to Hall of Fame, 2020
- Composer of advanced chamber and solo piano works, pedagogical works, piano method, sacred and choral works.
- Author/composer “88 Keys to Mastering the Piano”, a comprehensive, graded piano method. Student and teacher tested over the past decade, this is the first piano method to incorporate important principles of the Taubman Approach.
- Author, “The Pug Bible” e-book.
Professional Experience
- Owner/Director/Teacher Independent Piano Studio, September 1986 to Current
- Provide comprehensive instruction through an upbeat, creative, rewarding curriculum.
- Coach pianists from all over the world with an emphasis on piano technic, tonal production, and injury prevention.Provide counseling and support to injured musicians as well as continued assistance with rehabilitation throughout the year.
- Pre-college students regularly receive the highest ratings in competitions. Adult students include professional pianists, teachers, church musicians, and college professors.
- Piano Instructor, Taubman Piano Institute's International Summer Symposium at Amherst and Williams College, Massachusetts 1996 to 2003. (Instruct pianists from around the world in ways to eliminate technical limitation, tension, and fatigue, and improve tonal control.)
- Piano Instructor, Golandsky Piano Institute's International Summer Symposium at Princeton University, New Jersey, 2003-2018. (Assist with the concert series, coordinate with television crew for interviews and promotional clips, fundraising.)
- Freelance pianist, September 1982-present. (solo and collaborative recitals, soloist with symphonies and other large chamber groups, pianist for church and civic choirs, musicals, pianist for weddings and receptions; harpsichordist in orchestras and chamber groups; piano accompanist for college and university music majors and faculty (University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi College, Birmingham Southern College, Gordon College, and more.)
- Church Musician, 1990-present. (Pianist, 1st Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, MS; Children's Choir Director and Pianist, 1st Presbyterian Church, Laurel, MS; Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL; Substitute Pianist and Choir Director, Episcopal Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Indian Springs, AL; Pianist, St. Mary’s of the Highlands Birmingham, AL; Pianist and Harpsichordist for special concerts, Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL, 2000-present.
- Substitute Piano Instructor Alabama School of Fine Arts, January 2003 to May 2003
- Adjunct Music Instructor, Jefferson State Community College, Birmingham, Alabama, (taught Music Appreciation), August 2000 to May 2002
- Piano Professor, William Carey College, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, (taught piano concentrations, piano pedagogy, piano literature), August 1999 to May 2000
- Adjunct Piano Instructor, William Carey College, (taught piano secondaries), August 1999 to May 2000
- Adjunct Piano Instructor, Mississippi College, Jackson, Mississippi, (taught piano secondaries), August 1999 to May 2000
Education and Training
Post-Graduate Studies, 1990 to Current
- Private instruction with
- Edna Golandsky, NYC, 1996 to current
- John Bloomfield, NYC and Atlanta, 2000 to current
- Nina Scolnick, University of California, Irvine, 1996
- Ilya Itin, NYC, Winner Leeds Competition, 2000-2006
- Taubman Symposium Amherst College, MA, 1996
- Taubman Symposiums Williams College, MA 1997-2002
- Golandsky Symposiums Princeton University, NJ, 2003-2017
- Attendee and lecturer at International, National, and State and Local Music Conferences and Workshops
Bachelor of Music, Piano Performance, Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts, 1986
Randolph School, Huntsville, Alabama, (K-12 except for Freshman year at NCSA)
North Carolina School of the Performing Arts (ballet major, piano minor), 1978-1979
Certifications
- Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, Music Teachers National Association, 1990 to current
- Certified Instructor, The Golandsky Piano Institute, 2011
Volunteer Work
- President, Birmingham Music Teachers Association
- Southern Division Competitions Coordinator, Music Teachers National Association
- Treasurer, Hattiesburg Music Teachers League
- Coordinator, Panoply of the Arts Piano Festival, Huntsville, AL
- Secretary, Birmingham Metro Music Forum
- Webmaster, Birmingham Music Teachers Forum and Music Teachers Association
- State Coordinator for Mississippi, Music Teachers National Association Music Link Program
- Scholarship Chair, Alabama Federation of Music Clubs
- Librarian, Birmingham Music Teachers Association
- Vice-President of Programs, Jackson Music Teachers Association and Birmingham Music Teachers Association
- Competition Chair: Mississippi Federation of Music Clubs, Birmingham Keyboard Artist Competition
- Vice-President of Publicity, Hattiesburg Music Teachers League
- Chair, Birmingham Metro Music Forum’s New Music Festival
- Chair, Birmingham Music Teachers Association Sonata Competition
- Volunteer work in churches
- Volunteer work for animal rescue groups
Affiliations
- Music Teachers National Association
- Alabama Music Teachers Association
- Birmingham Metro Music Forum
- Birmingham Music Teachers Association
- Pug Dog Club of America
Lectures and Presentations _
- Astound with Sound – Rebound, Don’t Pound! – January, 2021
- The Need for Speed
- Teaching the Tools of Virtuosity from the Start
- No Pain is Your Gain
- If It Hurts Here, Check There
- Pianist in Motion
- Designing a Studio Policy
- Teaching the Tools of Virtuosity from the Beginning
- Beyond Soft and Loud
- Healthy Virtuosity with the Taubman Approach
- Baroque Court Dancing
- Periwigs and Codas
- The Key’s the Key
- Pianist in Ensemble
- Technic Toolbox
- Choreography of Sound
- The Art of Effortless Playing
- Future topics: 88 Keys to Master Piano Playing (method book)
- Inspiration and Artistry
Personal Information
- Native of Huntsville, Alabama, attended Randolph School, student of Frances Schwemmer, attended North Carolina School of the Arts, ballet/piano double major, student of Eric Larsen
- Married since 1990 to Dr. Jeff McLelland, Director of Music and Fine Arts at Independent Presbyterian Church
- Hobbies: hiking, camping, reading, traveling, soap-making, composing, dog training, breeding and showing champion show pugs in obedience and conformation, animal rescue
- Breed preservationist, trainer, owner PickwickPugs.com
- Fundraiser Pugiano.com
References _
Edna Golandsky, Founder and Artistic Director of The Golandsky Piano Institute, NY, NY;
Frances Schwemmer;
John Bloomfield, Faculty Chair The Golandsky Piano Institute, NY, NY
Daniel Szasz, violinist and ASO concertmaster
Dr. Melissa West
David O’Steen, St. Phillip’s Church, Jackson, MS