NVMTA Lecture Series

An Interactive Workshop with Barbara Lister-Sink, Ed.D.

November 22, 2024, 10am – 12pm, Zoom

WILL THE CAGED BIRD EVER BE FREE?
WHAT PIANO TEACHERS NEED TO AGREE UPON TO PREVENT PLAYING-RELATED INJURY AND MAXIMIZE MUSICALITY 

Pianists of all ages and levels are often frustrated and even tragically hindered by discomfort, pain, and injury related to playing. Dr. Barbara Lister-Sink, author of the MTNA-award-winning DVD Freeing the Caged Bird – Developing Well-Coordinated, Injury-Preventive Piano Technique, will offer an accessible but scientifically informed look into the heart of injury-preventive piano technique. She will present and demonstrate interactively the basic biomechanical principles that all teachers might agree upon for pianists of any age or level. Additionally, she will examine the plethora of potentially confusing technical approaches and discuss their commonalities. Finally, she will demonstrate the relationship between healthy technique and musical artistry.

BARBARA LISTER-SINK, internationally acclaimed pianist and teacher, is a graduate
of Smith College and holds the Prix d’Excellence from the Utrecht Conservatory and an Ed.D. from Columbia University. A former member of the Artist Faculty of the Eastman School of Music, she has collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned performers,composers, and in numerous music festivals throughout North America, Europe, and in Australia. Formerly keyboardist for the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, she has also taught on the piano faculties of the Amsterdam Muziek Lyceum, Duke University,and the Brevard Music Center and is currently directs America’s first Graduate Certificate Program and Master of Music in Performance and Pedagogy with an Emphasis in Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Lister-Sink is acknowledged as a global leader in injury-preventive keyboard technique. Her video/DVD Freeing the Caged Bird
– Developing Well-Coordinated, Injury-Preventive Piano Technique won the distinguished 2002 Music Teachers National Association-Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award and was praised as “A monumental work!” by pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences, including the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Chicago, IL; and the International Society of Music Educators in Glasgow, Scotland, and the 2020 Virtual ISME Conference from Helsinki, Finland. Through her research-validated Lister-Sink Method©; 2016 TED X talk; hundreds of workshops at universities,conservatories, summer institutes, and professional conferences; and frequent articles in music journals, Lister-Sink has helped thousands of keyboardists from around the world remove technical obstacles to their musical development. A Steinway Artist since 1977 and a previewer for Oxford University Press, Lister-Sink was recently invited to write a series of articles for the Piano Magazine, The American Music Teacher, and European Piano Teachers Association Piano Journal. She was chosen by Musical America Global as one of America’s “Top Professionals of 2018” who have contributed to the music profession as innovators, independent thinkers, and visionary leaders. Upcoming concerts, presentations and workshops are in Helsinki, Finland; Philadelphia, PA; and London, England.

Additionally, Lister-Sink is a visual artist whose work is frequently exhibited. She is also a
fitness and gym enthusiast who enjoys power-lifting and ballroom dancing.
www.lister-sinkinstitute.org

TED X Talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KJjIxFk5lA