Lecture: The Piano Teacher and The Piano Lesson

Barbara Ann Stolz, author, amateur pianist, and Levine adult piano student, presents this lecture with her teacher, Carlos Rodriguez, on her personal journey.

The piano teacher and the piano lesson are both very personal experiences and an important aspect of society’s social and cultural fabric. This presentation explores Barbara’s journey as a writer and amateur pianist to answer two questions: 1) Why does someone decide to teach piano? and 2) Reflecting on her experiences, is the creative process transferable between fields and endeavors? The objective is to demonstrate the transferability of one’s creative process to different types of endeavors and, by so doing, underscore the importance of discerning and understanding one’s creative process—knowledge of one’s process, no matter one’s age, is empowering.

Bio

Barbara Ann Stolz, Ph.D., political scientist/criminologist, is an adjunct professor at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She has held academic appointments at American University, the University of Illinois, Chicago, and Yaroslavl State University, Russia, and research positions in the legislative branch of the U.S. government. The daughter of a pianist/organist, she continued to study piano while pursuing her career in criminal justice policy in academia and government. She currently studies piano with Carlos Rodriguez at Levine in Washington, D.C. Her publications include A Portrait of the Contemporary U.S. Teacher of Piano. She received her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and a doctorate in politics from Brandeis University.