Piano Professor Receives State's Top Collegiate Teaching Award

by Richard Veit

Jane Abbott-Kirk, associate professor of piano at Baylor University, was recently named Collegiate Teacher of the Year for 2004 by the Texas Music Teachers Association. This prestigious award was presented at the state convention in San Antonio, attended by more than 5,000 music teachers and students June 11-13.
Acclaimed throughout the south and midwest, Abbott-Kirk is in demand as soloist, collaborator, adjudicator and clinician. Prior to joining the music faculty at Baylor in 1973, she taught at the University of Kansas and Indiana University. She also has served on the faculty of the "Baylor in Vienna" study-abroad program. In 1989 she received Baylor's Outstanding Tenured Teacher Award in recognition of her teaching.
A native of Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Abbott-Kirk began piano study with Robert Floyd at the age of three. At age 11, she won the Corpus Christi Symphony Bach Contest. By 17, she had won contests sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs, Texas Music Teachers Association and San Antonio Music Teachers Association, and her orchestral engagements included performances with the San Antonio Symphony and Houston Symphony. While at Indiana University, she received enthusiastic reviews as the featured soloist on two midwestern orchestra tours, including the world premiere of Bernard Heiden's Triple Concerto.
A student of Sidney Foster and Menahem Pressler, Abbott-Kirk received her bachelor's degree, master's degree (with high distinction) and the coveted Performer's Certificate from Indiana University. She continued piano study with Frank Mannheimer in Minnesota and, more recently, with Edna Golandsky in New York City. She is a recording artist for the Musical Heritage Society and has received critical acclaim in Audio and Stereo Review. Her sensitive and inspired performances have provoked the highest accolades from the media.
For more information, call the Baylor School of Music at (254) 710-3991.