NVMTA Lecture Series

NVMTA presents…..

Masterclass with Nancy O’ Neill Breth

Topic: ” Contemporary Music”

The Masterclass will take place in Jordan Kitts (8500 Lee Highway, Fairfax, 22031) on June 21st at 10.00 am, and it will also be live-streamed through Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent on the day of the event.

Program

The Cat and the Mouse by Aaron Copland

Performer: Sela Rongero
Teacher: Francesca Hurst

Dance in Bulgarian Rhythm No. 2 (from Mikrokosmos Book 6) by Béla Bartok

Performer: Nora Konstantinova
Teacher: Lori Chew

Sonata No. 2, II. Presto III. Adagio by George Walker.

Performer – Alyssa Conde
Teacher – Gabriel Dobner

Nancy O’Neill Breth teaches piano and chamber music to students of all ages in the Washington DC metro area. For a window into her approach, visit Effective Practicing, short YouTube demonstrations of ‘best-practice’ practice tips. Nancy owes her life in music to the priceless gift of studies under giants such as Margaret Saunders Ott, Bela Nagy, Gyorgy Sebok and Rudolf Kolisch. Her experience in Indiana University’s famed Sebok/Gingold/Starker chamber music class transformed her from an aspiring piano soloist into a lifelong chamber musician.

While living in Mexico City, New York City and Washington, DC, Nancy was founder and pianist of chamber ensembles that performed to critical acclaim. The Mexico City News wrote that her Camerata de Mexico “offers the best chamber music in Mexico.” The Washington Post praised her “superb musicianship” and called her Music Connection concert series “brilliant” and “imaginative.” Over time, teaching evolved from a side interest to the center of Nancy’s professional life. Breth students excel in local, regional and national piano and chamber music competitions. Several have appeared on National Public Radio’s “From the Top”; and four teams from the Breth Studio have won MTNA’s national duet competition.

Although Nancy’s academic degrees were in piano performance, she earned her pedagogy “degree” from stellar teachers in her own community. Now, she interacts with young teachers both formally, as an adjudicator and lecturer, and informally in various ways such as her monthly online sessions, Talk About Teaching. Nancy taught piano, chamber music and pedagogy at Washington DC’s Levine School of Music for many years. While she was chair of Levine’s Chamber Music Department, the number of adults and children studying chamber music at the school grew from around 40 to almost 400.

Nancy first presented for MTNA at its Seattle conference 25 years ago. She’s been invited back a number of times, most recently in 2024 as curator of the entire Artistry Track of Pedagogy Saturday.

Nancy’s latest project for teachers and students is her Modern Piano Music List, a clickable list of performances and sources of 20th and 21st century piano repertoire. Breth publications include Practicing the Piano; The Piano Student's Guide to Effective Practicing; and Parent’s Guide to Effective Practicing, plus a set of piano trios for beginners, Six Songs from John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera. All are published by Hal Leonard Corp. She has written for Clavier, American Music Teacher and Clavier Explorer.