PIANO

CHAIR OF THE PIANO DEPARTMENT

DR. THOMAS SWENSON, Master Teacher at MANC, has distinguished himself as a national leader in the field of piano pedagogy. He is a permanent Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (from the Music Teachers National Association) and has received several other teaching awards including the Steinway Top Educator certificate. With over 25 years of teaching experience his students are often recognized for excellent keyboard technique, interpretation, musicianship, and their compositions. Pre-college students regularly participate in recitals, music festivals, and competitions.

Thomas has served in many leadership roles for the Music Teachers National Association, the North Carolina Music Teachers Association (including President) and the Greensboro Music Teachers Association. He is published in several books and journals, and is a regular contributor to Clavier Companion. He has given presentations and workshops at the Music Teachers National Association National Conference, Music Educators National Conference, the World Music Symposium along with many state and local events. As a leader in adult piano teaching he taught a unique Recreational Music Making curriculum throughout the world and is a member of the Committee on Teaching Adults, a division of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy.

Currently also on faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts he has also taught at Salem College, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, and the University of North Carolina Greensboro Summer Music Camp. He regularly performs as a soloist, collaborative pianist, church musician, and is half of the piano duo Zwei & Zwanzig (two and twenty, with Ellyses Kuan).

Dr. Swenson holds degrees from Minnesota State University (BM), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MM), and the University of Oklahoma (PhD). He has also studied at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. His primary teachers include Jane Magrath (editor of many piano music collections), Barbara Fast, Howard Lubin, John Salmon, Olga Gross, and Nancy Harris.

Other areas of interest and research include keyboard technique from the beginning, the art of practicing, composition and creativity, and partner lesson pedagogy. As a hobbyist composer, Dr. Swenson has a number of completed works, mostly for church use.

LISA DUERR, Associate Master Teacher at MANC, joined the Music Academy of North Carolina in fall of 2014. With over 30 years of teaching experience, Ms. Duerr has also taught at Salem College Community Music School, the Community Music School of UNCSA, The Community Music School of The University of Alabama, and Southern Arts Academy in suburban Atlanta. As an active member of the Music Teachers National Association since 1989, her students have consistently received Superior and Excellent ratings and have performed at North Carolina Music Teachers Association State Conferences. Several of her pre-college students have been accepted into established and reputable collegiate music programs. Ms. Duerr holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, with a secondary emphasis in science, from Agnes Scott College, and a Master of Music in piano performance, with secondary emphasis in piano pedagogy, from Georgia State University. While at GSU she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Music Fraternity. Her primary teachers include Anna Hayward, and Cary Lewis of the Lanier Trio. As a performer, Ms. Duerr was a freelance pianist in Atlanta and Tuscaloosa. Locally, she was a participant-performer in a UNCG Pianoforte Workshop taught by Andrew Willis, and currently, through a partnership with MANC, is the accompanist for the Well Spring Singers volunteer choir. She received her Musikgarten certification in 2002. At the CMS of UNCSA, she developed and taught a successful Musikgarten program for toddlers from 2005-2013. Piano students range in age from 4 1/2 to 70+ years and include beginners of every age, music enthusiasts and hobbyists, as well as students auditioning for competitions and college music programs. Approaching each student as an individual, Ms. Duerr encourages communication between the parent-child-teacher triangle and uses unique instructional strategies that combine tradition with modern eclectic flair.

Albanian-born pianist ANTONELA FRASHËRI is a performer and educator whose goal is to bring musical knowledge and enjoyment to students of all ages and levels. Antonela aspires to be a piano teacher who challenges students to develop critical thinking skills and global awareness through their journey of lifelong learning.  Prior to moving back to Greensboro in 2023, Antonela taught at her home studio in the Bay Area for 4 years. She has also taught at the California Conservatory of Music, Joyful Music Melodies and The Cupertino Music Academy. In 2019, she was the pianist for The Silicon Valley Boychoir in Palo Alto, California.  In December 2018, Antonela was a faculty member at the Music Academy of North Carolina and a staff accompanist at Elon University. She also taught at Triple Threat School of Music and Dance, Stagelights Theatre and Dance and the Community Collaborative Program at University of NC in Greensboro.  Antonela prioritizes each student’s goals and learning style before she carefully selects a piano method appropriate for each student.  She regularly sends students to the Royal Conservatory of Music piano exams. She is a member of The North Carolina Music Teachers Association and The California Music Teachers Association. She has served as secretary and communication chair for the CAPMT Santa Clara Valley Chapter, as well as chair of the Contemporary Competition for District II.  To know more about Antonela’s teaching style and background, visit https://antonelafrasheri.com.

Chicago-born pianist DR. DOUGLAS JURS is committed to the craft of piano teaching and mentorship and brings over 20 years of pre-college teaching experience with students of all ages and abilities to MANC. His piano students have won numerous regional and international competitions including most recently the 2022 World Piano Teachers Association Finland Competition (Gold Medal) and the 2021 Pittsburgh International Piano Competition (First Prize and 2022 Carnegie Hall debut).

Since August 2022, Dr. Jurs has served as Associate Professor of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Elon University in North Carolina, where part of his duties include teaching aspiring piano teachers through Elon’s unique Piano Pedagogy Minor. Before Elon, he was an Assistant Professor of Music at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, receiving tenure in Spring 2022.

As an active performer, Dr. Jurs has performed internationally in China, India, New Zealand, and Canada, where in 2020 he was a Musician in Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, exploring connections between music, narrative, and embodied experience. He can be heard alongside clarinetist Matthew Nelson on “All Your Diamond Tears,” a recently released Centaur label recording and winner of a 2023 Global Music Awards Silver Medal.

Doug serves as Piano Chair for the North Carolina Music Teachers Association and is currently Vice President of the Greensboro Music Teachers Association. He is a member of the Music by Black Composers Team as the series editor of recent and forthcoming editions of the complete keyboard music by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, one of the earliest known classical era composers of African descent. Recent conference presentations include MTNA National conferences in Reno and Atlanta, the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy, and the College Music Society National Conference.

Dr. Jurs holds degrees in piano from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (where he also double majored in English and rode for the Cutters cycling team), Cleveland Institute of Music, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Greensboro with his wife, Claire (a director of the Greensboro Youth Chorus), and children, Silas (an emerging jazz/funk multi-instrumentalist) and Louisa (a pianist and lacrosse player). He’s an avid basketball fan and player and one of his favorite past conference presentations analyzed Stephen Curry’s daily shooting regimen as a model for practicing piano technique fundamentals.

TAMAR SALIASHVILI, piano instructor at the Music Academy of North Carolina, has 30 years of experience teaching and performing piano. She is passionate about sharing her love of music with her students of all ages (5 to 70+ years) and interest levels (beginner to advanced). Tamar supports her students in discovering a lifelong appreciation of music and pursuing their goals in piano performance, from learning their first notes and enjoying piano as a hobby to preparing for college. Her students have consistently received top marks at music festivals and won state composition competitions.

Tamar previously maintained a private studio as well as taught at Galveston Island Arts Academy (Galveston, TX) and Valley Conservatory (Huntsville, AL). She also served as a staff accompanist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, performed as a freelance accompanist, and participated in local and regional recitals and festivals as a solo and collaborative pianist. Interested in community engagement, she has held numerous leadership positions at local chapters of Music Teachers Association and Federation of Music Clubs.

Tamar holds bachelors and masters degrees (equivalents) in piano from the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is also Music Teachers National Association’s Nationally Certified Teacher of Music.

TAYLOR SCHMIDT is an experienced music educator dedicated to nurturing a lifelong love of music in students of all ages and abilities. In addition to over two decades of playing piano, Taylor has a wide range of musical experiences across multiple instruments in a variety of styles and genres. She has a decade of piano teaching experience and has also taught general music, choir, and wind band. Over the years, Taylor’s students have achieved success in competitions and earned placements in state-wide ensembles.

Taylor’s teaching philosophy centers on a well-rounded, student-centered approach that empowers students to explore their own musical voice. Students learn music reading through fun and engaging activities, including games and playing songs of their choice alongside a method book curriculum. Additionally, students have opportunities to learn how to play by ear, read lead sheets, improvise, and even compose. Lessons are tailored according to each student’s interests and goals.

Taylor received her Bachelor of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016, where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda and received the Outstanding Achievement in Music Education award. In 2023, she earned her Master of Music degree in Music Education from the University of North Carolina Greensboro where she also served as a teaching assistant for undergraduate Music Education majors.  During her graduate studies, Taylor’s primary areas of interest/research included sound-before-sight music literacy instruction and working with neurodiverse learners.

TAHMOURES TABATABAEI has been performing as a soloist and within chamber ensembles for twelve years. He has given numerous recitals both domestically and internationally, and received first prize in The Ninth Youth Music Festival in Tehran, Iran. His repertoire spans early baroque to contemporary, but he has a particular passion for German Romantic repertoire, especially Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann.  He has been teaching privately and through music centers for over ten years, where he takes a flexible approach, basing his instruction on each students individual needs. He shares his passion for music with all his students and encourages them to develop their unique, musical voice.

Tahmoures is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at The University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where he studies with Dr. Andrew Willis, who also guides Tahmoures cognate of historical keyboard performance on appropriate, period instruments.  He serves as a graduate assistant within the music department, teaching all levels of group piano, and has collaborated with solo instrumentalists and participated with the University Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Band.  He received his Master of Music degree from Western Michigan University where he studied with Lori Sims and received specialized lessons on classical era music with Phyllis Rappaport. While there, he also served as a graduate teaching assistant for group piano, and was highly sought as a collaborator for both vocalists and instrumentalists. His studied his Bachelors Degree in Piano Performance at The University of Tehran in Iran. He has participated in music festivals and master classes with pianists such as Dr. Stijn De Cock, Gottlieb Wallisch, Doris Lindner (Kitzmantel), and Dr. Robert Satterlee.

JANICE WELLS, piano faculty member and Master Teacher at The Music Academy of North Carolina, earned her Master of Music degree in Piano from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano from Newberry College. She has taught private and class piano since 1990, and enjoys teaching Suzuki-style lessons for young beginners. She is also an active freelance accompanist in the Triad area. Janice began teaching at MANC in 2002. She was a recipient of the 2004 Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award.

DR. CHRISTY WISUTHSERIWONG, Master Teacher, has been teaching at the Music Academy of North Carolina since 2006. She received her Bachelors of Music in piano performance and pedagogy at Meredith College in Raleigh and studied Collaborative Piano at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned her Masters of Music in 2001 and Doctor of Musical Arts in 2011. Christy is a member of NCMTA and is active in the musical life of the Triad area. She currently works as a staff accompanist at Elon University, and is the accompanist for Bel Canto Company. From 2009-2012, she taught piano and accompanied students at at Guilford College in Greensboro. Christy has been an accompanist for the American Singers Opera Project in Winston-Salem, the Greensboro Opera Company, NC-NATS auditions, Community Theatre of Greensboro, and the Cello Competition and Vocal Festival at MANC. She has worked frequently as an accompanist for the UNCG Opera Theatre Department, playing for the Opera Tour to the Schools and the North Carolina premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women, among other shows. She has performed chamber music recitals as a guest artist at various schools around the country, including Elon University, Furman University, Duquesne University, and Ball State University. In the summer of 2006, Christy participated in the Summer Piano Pedagogy Institute at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Internationally, Christy attended the opera performance and language study program Oberlin in Italy in 2001 and the University of Miami Frost School of Music German lieder program for singers and pianists in Salzburg, Austria in 2007. Christy was a recipient of the Mary Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award for 2008-2009.