piano with nicole

 Nicole Dyson-Smith teaches piano lessons for Wichita Collegiate’s Fine Arts Academy, independently in a studio at Garten’s Music, and occasionally travels to students’ homes for home lessons.  During the school year, she has about 55 students.

 Nicole graduated from Wichita State with a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance and a Master Degree in Piano Pedagogy.  She has taught privately for many years, through WSU’s College of Fine Arts Institute, and at Camp Allegro.  In addition to teaching the standard repertoire, she encourages her students to improvise, compose, and to participate in recitals.  She is a member of Music Teachers National Association, the state association, and Wichita Metropolitan Music Teachers Association.  Nicole is also a composer and harpist, and has given public lectures on improvisation and music of the 20th century. In order to stay relevant to her students’ struggles,  to keep up her skills, and also just for the fun of it, she performs at recitals every year.

Nicole has a special interest in classical music advocacy, especially concerning music written by modern and/or living composers.  She will be playing an all modern-period ”young person’s recital” in October 2007 with works by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Henry Cowell.