Timothy Durkovic, MM Long Beach City College
Los Angeles, California
(Will head the West Coast Center for the Lister-Sink Method at
Long Beach City College in the fall of 2009)
timothydurkovic@yahoo.com
www.timothydurkovic.com
Born and raised in Guatemala City, Timothy entered the National Conservatory of Music of Guatemala at 11 years old, studying with the renowned Consuelo Medinilla. He graduated from the conservatory with highest honors, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance at the age of 17. At the same time, he made his debut with the Guatemala Symphony Orchestra performing the Brahms D-Minor piano concerto. Always received in his homeland with national pride, he has been hailed by critics as “Guatemala’s grand national revelation of the twentieth century,” and was recently named “Man of the Week” by Crónica--the Guatemalan equivalent to TIME Magazine.

Accepted to the Juilliard School, Mr. Durkovic moved to New York to continue his musical education under Jacob Lateiner. He went on to study at Salem College and the University of Southern California, working under the instruction of Barbara Lister-Sink, Daniel Pollack, and Kevin Fitz-Gerald. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music where he was honored with both the Keyboard Ensemble Award and the prestigious Outstanding Master’s Graduate Award. Mr. Durkovic has served as Guest Lecturer at the USC Thornton School of Music and on the faculties of the Orange County High School for the Arts and the University of La Verne. In fall of 2005, he was appointed as Director of Keyboard Studies at Long Beach City College.

Mr. Durkovic is the winner of many competitions, both nationally and internationally. He performs in recital and as soloist with orchestra in the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America. His performances have been broadcast on the International Voice of America, NPR, and TGNA. He also serves as the Director of Music and Organist at Church of the Good Shepherd, United Methodist in Arcadia, California. He maintains a private teaching studio and serves on the Executive Board of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers

Tim is actually the inspiration for the Lister-Sink Method. He transferred in to study with me at Salem College in 1987, determined to develop the freedom, quality of tone production, facility, ease and power that he had noticed during one of my concerts. His dogged determination not to stop until he really had “it” –this type of playing—inspired me to clarify, organize and codify in-depth the step-by-step foundational  training that eventually became the Lister-Sink Method. Tim also studied the Alexander Technique for several years and found that it contributed significantly to his progress in true understanding of technique and control of his body at the piano. He is a top-class performer, with a combination of brilliance, lyricism, power and beautiful sensitivity that puts him in the top rank of his generation of pianists.  He has extensive experience as a touring concert pianist over the past 15 years and is equally highly regarded as a superior collaborative artist and chamber musician. His work in church music and organ also enables him to work effectively with organists in retraining. While he has been teaching a modified version of the Lister-Sink Method for many years, he is now in training with me at Salem College and privately to attain the highest level of Certification in the Lister-Sink Method, that of Master Instructor. As such he will be qualified to instruct keyboardists from foundational to the most advanced levels of technique and musical interpretation. As of the fall of 2009, Mr. Durkovic will have established a West Coast center for training the Lister-Sink Method.
(Certification to be received in May, 2009) Back to List

Jamie Grigsby, MM
Denver, Colorado
jamgrigsby@yahoo.com
Jamie Grigsby received a Masters Degree in piano performance from the University of Colorado under the study of Alvin Chow and Andrew Cooperstock, and graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Iowa.  She is currently studying piano and injury-preventive technique with Barbara Lister-Sink through Continuing Studies at Salem College.  She currently teaches private piano lessons in Westminster and claims the boasting rights of helping many prospering young pianists achieve their musical goals.  She is an active performer and accompanist in the Denver Metro area, and has also served as music director at Niwot United Methodist Church for the past two and a half years.  Jamie is a member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Colorado State Music Teachers Association (CSMTA), and is currently president of the Broomfield, CO Music Teachers Association (BMTA).

Ms. Grigsby is nearing completion of distinguished study with me in the Lister-Sink Method Level III at Salem College.  She is an advanced player herself and is capable of training both foundational technique as well as higher levels of technique and musicianship. She has also completed  all requirements for certification with me at Salem College, including the course Keyboardists’ Injuries – Causes and Cures. While she has never suffered a playing –related injury per se, she is both interested in and capable of working with injured keyboardists under my supervision. In Denver she is a very beloved piano teacher, especially of young students. With rare exception, trains all of her students in the Lister-Sink Method technically both successfully and joyfully.
(Certification to be received in December, 2008) Back to List

Kanda Haight
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
krhaight@yahoo.com
Kanda Haight obtained a B.A. in Music Performance/Piano in 2001. She has performed recitals in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and was a winner in state and national Fine Arts Keyboard Competitions in 1992. Recently Kanda had the opportunity to accompany Sherwood Forest Elementary Songsters for a concert at the White House. Kanda is retraining in Injury Preventive Keyboard Technique with Barbara Lister-Sink. Additionally, she is seeking teaching certificates in K-12 Music Education and The Lister-Sink Method through Salem College and WINGSOUND International. Upon completion of her time at Salem, Kanda plans to pursue Masters degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Educational Leadership and Administration.

Ms. Haight has studied the Lister-Sink Method over a period of five years, first in an Intensive Technique Training Week and then at Salem College for the last two years. She is nearing completion of her Certification in the Lister-Sink Method Level III. Because of her own experience with injury-- both playing-related and a recent fracture in her wrist—as well as additional studies with me at Salem College in Keyboardists’ Injuries – Causes and Cures, she has gained extensive experience in training those with playing-related injuries, especially assisting me in Intensive Technique Training Weeks. Ms. Haight is an outstanding instructor in the Lister-Sink Method. Aside from having a deep understanding of biomechanics and the principles of good coordination, she is also insightful, patient and compassionate in her teaching.  I recommend her highly for beginning adults, young beginners, injured keyboardists and any serious keyboardists wishing to lay a deep foundation in well-coordinated technique.  She is also a very expressive, sensitive player capable of a fine sound, beautiful phrasing and excellent control of the key.
(Certification to be received in May, 2009) Back to List

Beverly Joy Henkel, MM
Lynchburg, Virginia
henkelbg@yahoo.com or pianoabcs@gmail.com
Having spent her pre-college years as an accordionist, Beverly Henkel earned a BME (piano) and MM (theory and composition) from Drake University and has done additional post-graduate work at University of Oklahoma in piano, composition, and pedagogy. Since 1993, she has maintained a music studio in Lynchburg teaching piano, theory, and composition. Ms. Henkel has several piano pieces published with Kjos and Heritage Music Press and recently has authored an innovative beginner piano method, Piano ABC's which is patented. Ms. Henkel has been studying piano and the Well-Coordinated, Injury Preventive Keyboard Technique course curriculum with Barbara Lister-Sink at Salem College since Fall 2006, having received three consecutive Teacher Enrichment Grants from the Music Teachers National Association for her studies. She is the mother of four sons and has five grandchildren with a sixth due in September 2009.

In addition to being near Certification in the Lister-Sink Method Level III, Beverly is an experienced and highly successful independent piano and music teacher of many years. Twenty-two of her students won local CVMTA scholarships, many of her students have placed in VMTA State Competitions; two of her students have been national winners in the Teens Involved competitions; several have won partial or full scholarships and continued their piano studies at major universities and conservatories. Her background in theory and composition is extensive. She is a first-rate composer of music for young pianists. Her own wonderful and pedagogically unique method of teaching piano, Piano ABC's, is enjoying an enthusiastic reception by both teachers and students. I am delighted with this method because it will serve as a much-needed corollary of sequenced compositions to the Lister-Sink Method. In her studio she successfully works with students of all ages, including beginning students (children and/or adults) and extending to those playing early collegiate-level repertoire. She has studied with me in the Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique curriculum at Salem College through a thrice-awarded MTNA Teacher Enrichment Grant. Ms. Henkel is a strong, intelligent and expressive player in advanced repertory and is thoroughly happy on stage. She combines considerable strength as both a performer and a natural-born teacher.
(Certification to be received in May, 2009) Back to List

Virginia Houser, DMA
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
vhouser@ksu.edu
Dr. Virginia Houser is Associate Professor of Piano at Kansas State University, where she also teaches piano pedagogy and group keyboard and directs the music preparatory program. She holds a B.A. from Columbia College (SC) and a Master of Music degree and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Houser is also an active solo and collaborative pianist with concerts and workshops in many cities around Kansas and the United States. As a frequent adjudicator and clinician, she works with all levels and ages of students. In addition to her teaching duties at K.S.U., she maintains a precollege studio. Dr. Houser is a recent past president of the Kansas Music Teachers Association.

Dr. Houser is currently nearing completion of certification Level II in the Lister-Sink Method. She has studied extensively with me in summer Intensive Training Workshops for a number of years. In the fall of 2006,  while on sabbatical leave from Kansas State University, was able to continue her intensive training on a weekly basis with me at Salem College. Subsequently, she enrolled at Salem as a Fleer Center adult student and continued her lessons and certification training via webcam lessons.  Dr. Houser has also served as my assistant instructor during Intensive Training Workshops. She is a gifted and highly esteemed pedagogy professor, colleague and driving force in Midwestern professional music organizations. Dr. Houser has had extensive experience in teaching the foundational levels of the Lister-Sink Method. Technically well-coordinated and musically expressive, she performs with the same vitality, positive spirit and joy that she brings to her teaching.
(Certification to be received in May, 2009) Back to List

Carmine Mann, MM
Winston-Salem, NC
carminemann@hotmail.com
Bachelor of Music in piano performance, Salem College  1998 (with Lister-Sink); Masters of Music in Artistic Collaboration, University of North Carolina/Greensboro
Pianist and operatic coach, Fletcher Opera Company of the University of NC School of the Arts and Greensboro Opera. Numerous performances as soloist, chamber musician and vocal accompanist throughout the Southeast. Teaching assistant and administrative assistant to Barbara Lister-Sink. Private teacher since 1998.

Carmine Mann is one of the most effective teachers of the Lister-Sink Method today. She studied for 4 years with me as an undergraduate piano major at Salem College, having already won the MTNA Baldwin State Competition as a teenager in Wisconsin. Her grasp and application of the principles of good coordination as well as the Basic Stroke are profound. Ms. Mann is a virtuoso performer of both solo and extensive chamber music repertory. However, her first love is in artistic collaboration and vocal accompanying, both in lieder and opera, for which she has extensive professional experience. Ms. Mann has served as my teaching assistant at Salem College and in Intensive Technique Training Weeks.  I would recommend her with great enthusiasm to any keyboardist on any level as a highly successful and beloved teacher of the Lister-Sink Method. Back to List

Daphne Nichols
Salem College (BM piano major)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
nichdaa1@salem.edu
Daphne Nichols, 20, began her piano studies in the Downeast region of Maine. She made her concert and public radio debut at the age of 11 with the Arcady Festival Orchestra playing J. C. Bach’s Concerto in D. She won the Ocy Downs State Piano Prize in 2002 and performed the Bartok “Contrasts” on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” with her trio in 2003. Daphne graduated from the Walnut Hill School of the Arts in 2005 with both high academic honors and a Level III Performance Certificate with honors from the New England Conservatory’s preparatory program. Her previous university studies were at Northwestern University, where she studied with Sylvia Wang and James Giles. Most recently, Daphne was the recipient of Bay Chamber Concert’s Young Stars Senior Prize in 2007.

Ms. Nichols is completing her studies with me at Salem College in the curriculum in Injury-Preventive, Well-Coordinated Keyboard Technique. She is an exceptional student, both in academics and music, and has assimilated the Lister-Sink Method very rapidly. Her playing is strong, vital and communicative. As part of her training for eventual Certification,  Ms. Nichols is now developing her pedagogical skills in student teaching.. Her intelligent and effective assistance in the Lister-Sink Method,, both in Intensive Training Weeks and during the college year with new students, contributes to the success of the program. Back to List

Tim Pyper, MM
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
tpyper@gmail.com
www.timpyper.com
Tim Pyper is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Cornell University where he studies organ with Annette Richards and David Yearsley. His research focuses on issues of performance practice in early 20th-century English organ music. Prior to enrolling at Cornell, Tim received his B.M., M.M. and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with David Higgs. Other significant organ teachers have included Giles Bryant, John Mitchener, John Tuttle and William Porter (improvisation). His piano training with Barbara Lister-Sink forms the basis of his technical approach to all keyboard instruments. Tim has served as Assistant Organist at St. James' Cathedral, Toronto and Organist at St. Paul's Church, Rochester. His competition honors include First Prize in the Royal Canadian College of Organists' National Competition (2001) and in the U.S, First Prize in the Arthur Poister National Organ Competition (2008). In 2002, Tim performed at the A.G.O. National Convention as part of the "Rising Stars" recital series. Later the same year, he gave featured solo recitals at the R.C.C.O. National Convention in Charlottetown, P.E.I. to critical acclaim. His concert at the 2002 Guelph Spring Festival was aired nationally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He has also been heard on National Public Radio's "Pipedreams."

Tim Pyper has one of the most intelligent understandings of the Lister-Sink Method, both cognitively and in embodied form, of any of my students. His dedication to retraining was exemplary and his application to expressive music-making outstanding. Between graduate degrees, he completed courses at Salem College with me in the biomechanics and pedagogy of injury-preventive technique. In addition, he had intensive training in the Alexander Technique. Always professional and affable, his presence in the Salem program and my piano studio was highly valued. He distinguished himself as a student, performer and person. I would highly recommend him both as a teacher of the Lister-Sink Method who plans on acquiring his nearly completed Certification after obtaining his doctorate in organ at Cornell University. Back to List