PLAINVIEW – Wayland Baptist University’s annual Talkington Piano Day brought 49 students to the Plainview campus Monday, Jan. 23, for face-to-face instruction with professors as well as a chance to explore opportunities available through the university’s School of Creative Arts.
“We have young ladies from the piano program at Talkington School for Young Women Leaders that come annually to work with Dr. (Richard) Fountain and I,” explained Dr. Kennith Freeman, Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano. “They are from eighth grade to 12th grade, and we are working on piano technique, practice skills, how to make the rhythm better, and everything in between, as well as telling them about the music program here at Wayland.”
According to Dr. Ann Stutes, Dean of the School of Creative Arts, the annual event includes campus tours and a luncheon in addition to the mini-skills sessions with Wayland faculty members.
Most students are already familiar with Fountain and Freeman through the university’s collaborative piano initiatives with Talkington. In addition to conducting piano lab sessions at the Lubbock school, some students receive private instruction from the professors through Steinway Spirio | r high-resolution player piano technology used by Wayland and Talkington.
Joshua Harris, a 2006 Wayland graduate, directs the piano program at Talkington and brings his students to his alma mater.
“We started this several years ago,” Harris said. “This is very valuable because it gives the students an opportunity to get some advice from someone other than me.”
“I like to get the students on campus because a lot of students don’t think they can major in music unless they have been playing since they were in diapers,” he continued. “We get them on campus to see what a music department looks like and to hear from college professors that, if this is something you are passionate about, you can start in sixth grade and come to college and study piano.”
“This is our big recruiting event for Talkington,” Freeman said.
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