Interested in Piano?

Welcome! We’re happy to know of your interest in piano study at Baylor. If you have any questions about the application/audition process or just want to know more about piano study at Baylor, please feel free to directly email the Director of Keyboard Studies, Dr. Lesley McAllister.

The Division of Keyboard Studies encompasses majors in piano, piano pedagogy, collaborative piano, and organ at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Degrees offered range from Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music Education, and Bachelor of Music at the undergraduate level to Master of Music at the graduate level. We also offer a Doctor of Musical Arts in Church Music with a keyboard concentration (piano or organ). You find more information about Baylor music degrees here.

Our faculty consists of active professionals and experienced teachers who are as dedicated to the success of their students as they are to outstanding creative activity. Our graduates go on to further their education at leading national graduate programs in piano, such as the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Oklahoma, The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Colorado, Penn State University, Florida State University, and the University of Iowa, and international institutions such as the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (Austria), Cambridge University (United Kingdom), and The Royal Conservatory in the Hague (The Netherlands). Others go on to successful careers as teachers at the private and collegiate level. Recent graduates hold collegiate positions as department heads or division chairs at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Samford University, and the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, while others hold faculty, staff, or research positions at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou University China, Belmont University, and Kennesaw State University, among others.

Our program stresses personalized attention in developing a well-rounded pianistic musicianship based on systematic repertoire development, ergonomic technical approach, and ample performance opportunities. In addition to regular departmental performance events, we offer master class performance opportunities with regular guest appearances from renowned piano artists, contest opportunities (the winner of the Baylor Concerto Contest appears as a soloist with the Baylor Symphony Orchestra, solo and chamber group winners of the Semper Pro Music Competition perform in Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York City), and multiple nearby international contests.

The Baylor School of Music is committed to providing high-quality pianos for practice, lessons, and performance. Our practice facilities provide 24-hour access to 15 practice rooms equipped with grand pianos exclusively for the use of piano majors. Piano teaching studios contain two 7-foot grand pianos, with at least one being a recently manufactured Steinway Model B. Our main recital stage has two recently produced Steinway Model D Concert Grand pianos, one manufactured in the Hamburg, Germany factory, the other a New York-made Spirio|r, which can be networked in real time with other Spirio pianos around the world. Other notable piano makers in our inventory include Bösendorfer, Yamaha, and Kawai.

Nearly all of our undergraduate piano majors are supported by music and academic scholarships. Graduate students have the opportunity to apply for competitive assistantships that offer full tuition support and provide a monthly stipend.

Our students come from all around the globe. Recent  piano students have come from Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Poland, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Brazil, and Venezuela. We are excited to offer this opportunity of international fellowship among our students!

To learn more about our individual programs, please browse the following links: