William Knabe Piano Institute
William Knabe Piano Institute
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  • Staff Only
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  • Home
  • About
    • Semifinal Repertoire Confirmation
    • The Knabe Institute
    • The Knabe Legacy
    • Board of Directors
  • Competitions
    • About
    • Video Recording Centers
    • Rules
    • Points
    • Previous Years >
      • 2016 Knabe Young Artist Competition >
        • 2016 Jury
        • 2016 Finalists
        • 2016 Summer Festival Ivy Alliance
      • 2017 Knabe Young Artist Competition >
        • 2017 Jury
        • 2017 Finalists
        • 180th Anniversary Events
        • 2017 Summer Festival Ivy Alliance
      • 2018 Knabe International Young Artist Piano Competition >
        • 2018 Jury
        • 2018 Finalists
      • 2019 Knabe International Piano Competition >
        • 2019 Jury
        • 2019 Finalists
  • Summer Festival
    • 2020 Mid-Atlantic Piano Festival
  • Photos & Videos
    • 2016 Photo Gallery
    • 2016 Video Clips
    • 2017 Photo Gallery
    • 2017 Video Clips
    • 2018 Photo Gallery
    • 2018 Video Clips
    • 2019 Photo Gallery
    • 2019 Video Clips
  • Support the Knabe Institute
    • Donate / Volunteer
    • Support the Institute with a Piano Purchase
    • Advertise at Knabe
    • Donate Your Piano
    • Photos and Video
    • Fundraiser Sale
    • Donors
  • Lessons
    • Approved Instructors
    • Choosing a Teacher
  • Staff Only
  • Jury Only

Knabe Institute Recommended Piano Instructors

Criteria
The Knabe Institute, in continuing the legacy of William Knabe, is dedicated to promoting good piano playing at all levels.  A student will never reach his/her potential without proper instruction. And, whether or not the student chooses a career in music, it is our belief that all piano students should be taught well, even from the first lesson.

Teachers listed on this page have met our criteria in one of the following ways:

1. The teacher has had a student in the Knabe Young Artist Competition finals.
2. The teacher has had a student win a prize in the Knabe Summer Festival (Ivy International) Competition.
​3. The teacher has completed an application, on which he/she has demonstrated the following:
  • An appropriate collegiate education in piano
  • A teaching environment that includes opportunities for success, including performance opportunities
  • A basic understanding of various piano techniques, and a demonstrated application of that knowledge to beginning students
  • A basic understanding about the piano itself, and proof of an appropriate primary instruction instrument 

The William Knabe Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. This list is a free to use.  Provided our criteria is met, there is no charge for a teacher listing.
If you would like to support the Knabe Institute's efforts to promote great piano playing, then click here for our donation page.


​For Piano Instructors:

Click Here For More Information


​For Potential Students:

What to Look For in a Teacher - Click Here

Proper technique from the start - personal experiences from the Knabe Institute's President

Click Here

Recommended Instructors

Contact Information Coming Soon

California

Tanya Schweiger, Rancho Santa Margarita
​

Maryland

Ed Berlett, Lutherville
Dr. Jarl Hulbert, Nottingham
Bok Hwa Kim, Ellicott City

Olga Kuperstein, Ellicott City

Vivian Kwok, Rockville
Hyun Park, Potomac
Hyun Sook Park, Baltimore
Svetlana Volkova, Potomac
Kuei-I Wu, Gaithersburg


Pennsylvania

Robert Durso, Philadelphia (also New York)

Texas

​Dr. Ming Ge, Austin

Virginia

Silva Blazquez, Centreville
Darya Gabay, Fairfax
Margarita Gramatic
ova, McLean
Dr. Marjorie Lee, Vienna
James Litzelman, Arlington
Lisa Sarratt, Potomac Falls
Shelby Sender, Charlottesville

​

Washington, DC

Katerina Zaitseva
​
 

For Piano Instructors:

    I Would Like More Information About Becoming William Knabe Piano Institute Recommended Piano Instructor

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Proper Technique from the Start

When I was quite young, I remember accompanying my father to lessons in students’ homes. A respected pianist and composer, he eventually moved the lessons to our small home, and my siblings and I would try extra hard to stay quiet while he taught. Later in my childhood, I remember doing school work in a neighboring room while he taught lessons at a local piano store. 

My father dedicated his life to piano - even authoring his own theory-based method to accelerate student progress. I remember how he would complain about teachers who accepted money for lessons, but never really taught students how to play – students he came across who took lessons for 2 years or more and still couldn’t read music, couldn’t play basic scales or chords, and knew nothing about technique or theory.  As for me, I was the typical kid who did not want to practice, and so, although I absorbed much of his method, I didn’t get many lessons with my father – something I regret today.

My father became ill and passed away shortly after I turned 16, and I made the decision to make piano my career. After completing a bachelors degree, I accepted a scholarship to study in Vienna, Austria, where I attended the state academy (the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) and studied with Professor Walter Fleischmann. It came as quite a shock when I discovered that I would practically have to start from the beginning.  Even with a bachelors in piano, I spent the first six months on basic technique. And practicing on an upright acoustic piano was forbidden – all playing had to take place on a grand piano (because of the difference in the action).  What I had learned from my father’s method in theoretical training was now being supplemented by hard technique.

I commented to Professor Fleischmann at one point, “It would have been much easier if I had learned this before. Shouldn’t teachers work on this technique with piano students from the beginning?”  I remember the pensive and slightly melancholy look in his eyes when he responded that yes, they should, but they don’t.
Picture
Dr. Jarl Hulbert teaching a masterclass at the Silk Road Festival in Xi'An, China

In publishing this piano teacher list, our hope is to see students take lessons with piano instructors who know how (and are willing) to train students properly from the start. And likewise, we hope to motivate teachers who do not meet our criteria to better themselves and their teaching environment.

- Jarl Hulbert, Ph.d.
​   President
   William Knabe Piano Institute

Contact

1-888-978-5332 Ext. 4
info@knabeinstitute.org