November Program
November 10, 2023 | Mary Siciliano: Beginner and Intermediate Technique
Program Description:
This session will highlight activities from the initial piano lesson that will promote gesture, posture, freedom at the keyboard, and the development of tone. I will discuss techniques that will promote the development of the fingers, hand position, various touches, and movement. I plan to distribute an organized handout that will also include sources for supplementary materials.
Speaker Biography:
Mary Siciliano has a multi-faceted career. She was on the piano faculty at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, where she taught applied piano, piano ensemble, chamber music, and coordinated the piano pedagogy program. She also taught piano pedagogy at Madonna University, Schoolcraft College, and the University of Michigan. She currently has a very active private studio and continues to give pedagogy workshops and recently taught at the Interlochen Education Seminar and Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. Her students have distinguished themselves in many local, state, and national competitions, among them the Music Teachers National Association National Finals, the Piano Arts International Competition, the Dubois Competition, and the Michigan Music Teacher Association events.
Siciliano and violinist Velda Kelly co-founded “Chamber Music with Piano”. This summer workshop at Madonna University explores chamber music with piano and has included students from age 12 through adults. Students experience intense coaching with various musicians from the Michigan Opera Orchestra. This culminates in a final recital that also includes verbal communication with the audience.
Siciliano is very active in piano teacher organizations. She has served on the boards of the Metropolitan Detroit Musicians League, Michigan Music Teachers Association, the East Central Division of MTNA, and the Tuesday Musicale of Detroit.
Mary Siciliano performs throughout the United States, Canada, and France, and has been broadcast on CBC, WRCJ, and several others. She has collaborated on several cd albums that include the first recordings of Richard Stöhr on Toccata Classics as well as the chamber music of Jacques de la Presle, Pierre de Bréville, Ignatz Waghalter, Fernand de la Tombelle, and Nicolas Bacri on the Centaur label.
She received her Masters in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan where she was awarded the Joseph Brinkman Prize for outstanding performance.