Neil DMA
About
Dr. Neil Stannard has lived what might seem to others like several lifetimes—performing as a collaborative pianist, piano soloist and symphony bassist, remaining through it all a dedicated piano teacher.
He has performed with internationally known artists in venues from New York to Moscow, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Brahms Hall in Vienna's Music Union, Berlin's Hochschule and Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. And there was a performance at the White House during the Carter administration. He took part in the Great Performers at Lincoln Center series, the Berlin Festival, the Vienna Festival, Days of New Music in Bonn, Germany, the Marlboro Festival with Pablo Casals and the Newport Festival.
Graduating cum laude from USC, a piano scholarship student of Muriel Kerr, Jacob Gimpel and John Crown, he received a Naumberg scholarship on double bass to the Juilliard School, where he completed the master of science degree. During that time he played in the American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski, recording the Emperor Concerto with Glenn Gould as soloist (Columbia Records). He also played in the Marlboro Festival Orchestra with Pablo Casals (Columbia Records). This was, of course, a circuitous route to a career as a pianist.
It was during this Juilliard excursion that, as a pianist, he made his New York concert debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with violinist Christiane Edinger and began performing professionally along the Eastern seaboard from Montreal to Palm Beach, New York to San Francisco and across Canada, performing ultimately in all of the contiguous United States and many European capitals.
Later, he completed a doctorate in piano at the University of Arizona with Nicholas Zumbro and for 13 years taught applied piano at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was a tenured professor. He lives now in Cathedral City, California, where he writes, paints and photographs the world around him. When not otherwise engaged he plays the cello.
Students who have achieved the level of at least an early intermediate level (Bach Invention or Clementi Sonatina, for example) are best suited to learn what I teach. I have taught private piano in New York, Los Angeles and as a tenured professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. My approach is diagnostic. Each student brings their own issues and must be evaluated on those terms. If one goes to the doctor with a sore throat, he doesn't give you all of the medicines in his cabinet. I demonstrate how to use the playing mechanism according to its design and not work against it by stretching and pulling. Playing the piano is actually easy and doesn't hurt.
Bachelor of Music from the University of California (cum laude), Master of Science from the Juilliard School, Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona. Post graduate work at the Hochschule für Music, Berlin. Member of Pi Kappa Lambda, honorary music fraternity. Member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Student of Muriel Kerr, Jacob Gimpel, John Crown, Gerhard Puchelt, Edna Golandsky, (Dorothy Taubman)
I recommend using passages in repertoire as "excercises" in order to learn how to move in harmony with the design of the hand-forearm alliance. My book Piano Technique Demystified: Insights into Problem Solving can be useful, but is not required.