Keyboard Studies

Students with an interest in keyboard instruction and performance can draw upon a comprehensive program of study designed to meet a wide variety of vocational and avocational goals. Music majors and minors, as well as non-majors as space permits, may enroll for private instruction in piano, organ, harpsichord, fortepiano and carillon. Regular opportunities for performance include weekly studio class meetings, student afternoon recitals, monthly keyboard division recitals, and performances for visiting guest artists.

Nancy Cooper

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Organ

Contact

Office: Music Building Room 214
Fax: 406/243-2441
Email: nancy.cooper@umontana.edu

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Education

Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance, Eastman School of Music, 1983.

Artist's Diploma, Eastman School of Music, 1983.

Master of Music degree in organ performance, Eastman, 1980.

Performer's Certificate, Eastman, 1980.

Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance, Centenary College of Louisiana, 1978.

Projects

GRANT AWARDS:

2014 Women and Gender Studies travel grant, annual conference of the Western Association of Women Historians in Pomona, California.

2013 Recipient, Faculty Professional Enhancement Program grant, for study at the Redpath Chautauqua Collection, University of Iowa.

1996 Recipient, grant funding from the Office of Research Administration, School of Fine Arts, and the Music Department, University of Montana:

- For research in London, England, on the life and works of Maria Cosway (February)

- For research in Lodi, Italy, on the life and works of Maria Cosway (October)

1994 Recipient, Faculty Professional Enhancement Grant, University of Montana, for research in Washington, D.C.,

on music in the life of Thomas Jefferson

1993 Recipient, Faculty Professional Enhancement Grant, U.M., for study of Thomas Jefferson’s music library, at the University of Virginia

Selected Publications

PRESENTATIONS:

"Reconstructing a Musical Life: Finding Anna Maude Van Hoose" (revised for a non-musician audience), annual conference, Western Association of Women Historians, Pomona, California, May 2014.

"Reconstructing a Musical Life: Finding Anna Maude Van Hoose"; regional conference, College Music Society, Missoula, MT, April 2014

Panel Discussion, “Binders Full of Women: Biography as an Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Enterprise,” University of Montana Faculty and Graduate Student Conference, April 13, 2013, Missoula, Montana

Publications

PUBLICATIONS:

“’Upward Ho! or, The Way of the Better Life’: The Circuit Chautauqua Movement in Montana,” under review, Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

"'An Artist to her Fingertips': a woman on the Chautauqua circuit." Accepted with revisions, Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music, Spring 2015 issue.

"'Dear Old New York': Journal of Anna Maude Van Hoose's visit to New York, October- November 1901." New York History Review,

http://nyhrarticles.blogspot.com/2014/08/

A Charmed Bower of Romance: A Woman's Perspective of Niles in 1835. Chronicle of the Michigan Historical Society, XXXVI/1 (Spring 2013), 21-23.

Maria Cosway. Co-authored with Jan Walters. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition.

Maria Cosway e la musica. with Jan Walters. In Richard e Maria Cosway, Ed. Tino Gipponi. Torino: Umberto Allemandi & C., 1998.

Maria Cosway and the 'Favorite Passion' of Thomas Jefferson. Women of Note Quarterly, IV/1 (February/March 1996), 20-25.

Professional Experience

Lecture-recitals at the national conventions of the American Guild of Organists in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Lecture-recital at the national pedagogy conference of the American Guild of Organists, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Recital at the national convention of the Organ Historical Society in Baltimore, Maryland.

Lecture-recital at the national conference of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Society.

Lecture-recital at the University of Virginia as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Solo organ recitals in the University of Washington, Seattle; Indiana University, Bloomington; Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY; University of Arizona, Tucson; Oklahoma State University, Stillwater; Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida; Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC; Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia; Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA; ; and at churches in New York City, Washington, D.C.; Baltimore and Annapolis, MD; Spokane, WA: Billings, MT; Anchorage, Alaska; Charlottesville, VA; Salem, Medford, Portland, and Corvallis, Oregon; Chestertown, MD; Shreveport, Louisiana; Alexandria, VA; San Antonio, TX

International Experience

Solo organ recitals in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Munich, Heidelberg, and Augsburg, Germany.

Piano

Piano study at The University of Montana at both the undergraduate and graduate level is designed to provide enriching and stimulating experience. A well-rounded and intensive curriculum includes piano literature, piano pedagogy, jazz studies, advanced keyboard harmony, accompanying classes and piano ensembles. Our Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy degree is designed to prepare pianists for a successful career as a performer and teacher. With a dedicated and nationally recognized faculty who are committed to performing and teaching, our students receive instruction and guidance from those who practice what they teach.

The School of Music boasts two beautiful Steinway concert grand pianos, including a new Steinway D Concert Grand. In addition, there is a Steinway D Concert Grand and a Yamaha CFIII Concert Grand Piano with Disklavier technology located in the Dennison Theatre, our large concert hall adjacent to the music building. The School of Music has a large complement of Steinway grand pianos available for student use, and piano students earn access to the dedicated grand piano practice rooms and classroom facilities. There is also a Korg digital piano laboratory with computer stations for composition and digital effects processing.

Organ

Organ study at the University of Montana is available at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The curriculum includes a weekly hour-long private lesson, a weekly studio class with both UM organ students and community organists, as well as the study of organ literature, pedagogy, service playing, organ construction and design. Our organ instructor, Nancy Cooper, has a doctorate and Artist’s Diploma from the Eastman School of Music, and is involved in the American Guild of Organists at the national level; our local chapter of the AGO has a thriving student membership, and attendance at regional and national conventions is encouraged, and frequently subsidized by the chapter.

The School of Music has two organs in the Music Recital Hall, our primary recital space: a three-manual Moller electro-pneumatic instrument, and a one- manual Walcker tracker-action continuo/chamber organ. There are two practice instruments in rooms designated for organ practice alone: a two-manual Moller, and a two-manual Schlicker tracker. In addition, pipe organs in the community are often available for student use, and students are encouraged to work, and/or otherwise participate, in area churches with established music programs, as substitutes and as interns.

Harpsichord,  Fortepiano, Carillon

The School of Music owns 4 period instruments: the previously mentioned continuo organ in the Recital Hall, as well as a fortepiano (a 1750's Stein copy) and two harpsichords—a French double, and a Flemish single, all available for student use. The clock tower in Main Hall on the University of Montana campus is home to one of only three carillons in the Pacific Northwest. The school has a practice carillon in the music building, and students taking lessons can perform in the tower at noon on weekdays.

Meet Our Carillonneur!

Barbara Ballas attended the University of Montana where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy studying with J. George Hummel. She also earned a Master of Music in Music Composition studying under Dr. Donald Johnston. In the following years she taught piano privately and also worked as an accompanist for area schools and churches. She was a long-time member of the Missoula Music Teachers Association as well as the state and national groups. More recently she discovered the carillon and, with the mentorship of Dr. Nancy Cooper, began playing the University's 47-bell instrument housed in University Hall. She has been the University's carillonneur since 2018 and a member of the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America since 2013.

Celebrate Piano Series

The Celebrate Piano Series attracts illustrious keyboard guest artists and clinicians to campus for residencies and visits. These nationally recognized performers present master classes for students, serve as teachers for our annual Keyboard Festival, and perform in solo recitals. Recent artists include Anderson & Roe, Spencer Myer, Duo Turgeon, Stephen Beus, Lydia Brown, Margery McDuffie Whatley, Barbara Blegen, Jennifer Hayghe, and Bernadine Blaha and Kevin Fitzgerald. The Celebrate Piano Series also includes the wildly popular Pianissimo! and Poco Pianissimo! concerts. In addition, guest artists perform each year with such ensembles as the University Symphony Orchestra, The String Orchestra of the Rockies, and Missoula Symphony Orchestra.