Jan. 20, 2014—Claire Wachter, International Steinway Artist and Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy, has been awarded a $35,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation to create a series of online video lecture-performances in piano repertoire.

Titled The Virtual Piano Pedagogue, the unprecedented series brings high-level demonstration, discussion, and performance of standard piano repertoire to the teachers of Oregon in a technologically sophisticated but easily accessible format.

The Virtual Piano Pedagogue will impart Wachter’s expertise and training directly to music teachers. Piano teachers can use each of the project’s short videos to focus on a single work, or can view videos in sequence to gain a comprehensive understanding of the music of Schumann, Chopin, Bach, Scarlatti, and Bartok, among others.

The videos, which Wachter will make available to Oregon piano teachers through a free web portal, will provide a resource for teachers to use in lessons, for presentations at Oregon Music Teacher Association meetings, or for use in college piano pedagogy courses.

The project is supported by the OCF’s Nellie Tholen Fund and is the fulfillment of the wishes of master teacher and beloved Oregon pedagogue Nellie Tholen (1903-1998), who desired to give free advanced professional training to all Oregon piano teachers.

Wachter has also received support from individuals offering generous in-kind support in web design and production, as well as assistance from a UO School of Music and Dance Innovation and Creative Research Award.