The 13th Annual Taubman Piano Festival was held June 22-23th online and in person at Montclair University, NJ at the Cali School of Music.
I returned for the third year presenting: “Help, My Fourth Finger Feels Week!”
The guest artist this year was Van Cliburn finalist Fei-Fei.
https://www.taubmanuniversalapproach.org
6/17/24 I had a lot of fun chatting with Christina Archer Whitlock about moderating Facebook groups on her podcast: Beyond Measure
6/10/24 I got to chat with Steve Pretty on his podcast “On The Origin Of The Pieces” about one of my first musical loves: Debussy’s Arabesque. 
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2hrMqZyfMZ0DM5tJZos1MJ
4/29/24 I presented “Help, My Fourth Finger Feels week” to the Connecticut State Music Teachers Association.
March 2024 I contributed to the Piano Inspires online course “Piano Teaching through the Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”
9/30/24 I was the guest artist at the Ohio Music Teacher’s Association Northwest Chapter’s Piano Pedagogy Seminar, giving a full day of presentations and masterclasses.
Highlights 2022-2023
NCKP 2023- 7/27/23
I presented “Junior Vituosos: Technique and Movement for Beginners” at the biannual National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Lombard, IL.
The 12th Annual Taubman Piano Festival was held June 23-25th online and in person at Montclair University, NJ.
I gave a presentation “Is It Really Possible To Rotate For Every Note At The Piano?: A whole body look at the amazing power of rotation,” and masterclass.
Guest artists included Ann Schein (retired Peabody prof./student of Artur Rubinstein) and social media sensation Tiffany Poon (Juilliard/Yale grad).
https://www.taubmanuniversalapproach.org
11/12/23 “The Third Vocabulary – Technique And Gesture In Music Moves For Piano” at the New England GIML conference
6/24-26 I presented at the 11th Annual Taubman Piano Festival at Montclair
I was a guest artist at this year’s “Taubman Piano Festival” where I presented on teaching technique to children and gave a master class!
June 24th-26th the festival was held both online and in-person at Montclair State University. Faculty includes Directors Sondra Tammam and David Witten (Cali School), Dragica Banic-Curcic, and Father Paul Millet (Eastman/Peabody)
Other guest artists includes Robert Shannon (!!!) (Oberlin), Mika Sasaki (Juilliard), biofeedback expert Jackie Herbein, Suzuki teacher Nancy Modell, and jazz pianist Dan Crisci.
www.taubmanuniversalapproach.org
MTNA National Conference 2022
I presented “Playing Deliciously: the legacy and teachings of Dorothy Taubman” at the 2022 MTNA National conference. The presentation is archived for a future viewing.
“Great American piano pedagogue Dorothy Taubman (1917-2013) was a pioneer in the field of musician’s wellness. One of the first teachers to observe piano technique from the perspective of biomechanics, she developed a comprehensive technical approach which has helped hundreds of pianists recover from injury. She believed that piano playing should feel “delicious and euphoric.” This session offers an overview of Taubman’s life and outlines her core principles and techniques.”
Popham Valley Teachers Association 3/2/22
I presented, “Charting a Music Journey: the work of Dr. Edwin Gordon” to the Pompton Valley Music Teacher’s Association.
Events, Podcasts, and Webinars 2021:
St. Croix Valley Music Teachers Association 10/20/21
I’m very excited to be presenting “Repertoire Rich: Incorporating the 40 Piece Challenge into your teaching studio”
http://www.scvmta.com/meetings
To access the handout click below
Podcast: “All Keyed Up” with Ben Kapilow
Great conversation with Ben Kapilow on incorporating movement activities into piano teaching!
https://www.benkapilow.com/allkeyedup/benjamin-steinhardt
“Benjamin Steinhardt discusses ways that piano teachers can incorporate off-the-piano movement activities into their lessons. Topics discussed include the pedagogical benefit of incorporating movement into piano lessons, Edwin Gordon and audiation, the limitations of rhythm clapping, Rudolf Laban, idiosyncratic ways to use a metronome, and using movement activities and games to show weight, the space between notes, phrasing, and meter.”
Louisiana Music Teachers Association 2021 Conference 9/29/21
I gave two presentations at the 2021 Louisiana Music Teachers Association State Conference!
4th Annual Piano Celebration Week 3/25/21-3/31/21
I’m very excited to be presenting “Playing Deliciously: the legacy and teachings of Dorothy Taubman” at the 4th annual “Piano Celebration Week” at Texas A& M – Corpus Christi. March 26th is dedicated to self-care for pianists and will also include sessions on nutrition, mindset, and exercise.
Great American piano pedagogue Dorothy Taubman (1917-2013) was a pioneer in the field of musician’s wellness. One of the first teachers to observe piano technique from the perspective of biomechanics, she developed a comprehensive technical approach which has helped hundreds of pianists recover from injury. She believed that piano playing should feel “delicious and euphoric.” This session offers an overview of Taubman’s life and outlines her core principles and techniques.
www.pianocelebrationweek.com
2021 MTNA Conference 03/15/21 (archived until 6/1/21)
WMTA – Greater Milwaukee Chapter
February 19th 2021 at 10:30 am CDT
“Flow & Music: Developing inner hearing through movement”
This session explores the role of body movement in teaching rhythm, pulse, meter, tonality, and interpretation in the one-on-one lesson. Drawing from Dalcroze, Laban, Kodály, and Gordon, it includes movement activities, games, and the use of props to help students to develop greater musical understanding and expression.
You can download the handout here: BenjaminSteinhardt Flow & Music
December 4th 2020 at 10:30 am CDT
“Repertoire Rich: Incorporating the 40 Piece Challenge into you piano studio”
Since its creation in 2001 Elissa Milne’s “40 Piece Challenge” has proven enormously successful with teachers and students, transforming piano studios worldwide. At the heart of the challenge is the belief that students who learn more music become more confident readers, creators, interpreters, and learners. This session explores practical techniques for implementing a “repertoire-rich” approach to music education.
You can download the handout here: Repertoire Rich Handout – Steinhardt
Previous Events, Podcasts, and Webinars 2020:
MAME (Madison Area Educators) Workshop 9/18/20 @ 10 am CDT
“Flow & Music: Developing Inner Hearing Through Movement”
You can download the handout here: MAME Flow & Music
https://www.facebook.com/events/320875768981995
Benjamin Steinhardt leads this session and explores the role of body movement in teaching rhythm, pulse, meter, tonality, and interpretation in the one-on-one lesson.
Drawing from Dalcroze, Laban, Kodály, and Gordon, it includes movement activities, games, and the use of props to help students to develop greater musical understanding and expression.
—>MAME offers events for continuing education. These are open to the public, so invite your friends, students, and colleagues. Programs are followed by a half-hour business meeting for those who choose to stay on; masterclasses are preceded by a 20 minute business meeting. All events will be held via Zoom until further notice. A link to the Zoom meeting will be distributed prior to the program. Non-members interested in attending the program should email programs@madisonmusiceducators.org for login information.
Technique and Improvisation with Joey Lieber 9/25/2020
MTNA Online Webinar July 2020
With so many events cancelled due to covid I was delighted to be invited to present on the MTNA’s monthly webinar series. Over 550 people attended it live! If you are an MTNA member you can view it here:
https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/Learn/Webinars/2020_Webinars.aspx
“Piano Star” Interview and Masterclass with The Piano League September 2020
Interview and Masterclass with two young musicians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OzvwWNh0Q
MTNA’s 2020 Virtual Conference April 2020
Sadly, the 2020 Music Teacher’s National Association’s conference was cancelled due to covid concerns.
As a result participants were invited to give deliver their presentations virtually where they can be seen free of charge by members and non-members alike. You can view my online presentation here:
http://www.mtna.org/Virtual/Sessions/SMART%20Teaching%20Strategies.aspx
Piano Parent Podcast February 2020
I was delighted to join Shelly Davis at “Piano Parent Podcast” to talk about the great Dorothy Taubman as well as motivating students and effective learning strategies. You can listen here:
PPP181: Benjamin Steinhardt talks about the Dorothy Taubman Approach to piano playing
Successfully Teaching Piano Online hosted by Ross Salvosa April 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LStFJjlM5cw
Ross Salvosa hosted an excellent webinar on Teaching Online. Eric Banner and I were panelists.
Presentation and Masterclass in Baltimore, Maryland! March 2020
To download the handout click: Baltimore Junior Virtuosos Handout
Pedagogy Saturday in Indianapolis! February 2020
To download the handout click: Updated Indiana Junior Virtuosos Handout.
https://www.indianapianoteacher.org/pedagogy-saturday
PEDAGOGY SATURDAY
WITH BENJAMIN STEINHARDT
SPONSORED BY IPTG, IPTA, AND GIMTA
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2020
PIANO SOLUTIONS – 575 W. CARMEL DR.
SCHEDULE
9:00-10:15 – JUNIOR VIRTUOSOS: BASIC PRINCIPLES, POSTURE AND ALIGNMENT
Exploring dynamic posture, tension vs. relaxation, hand shape, and the development of body awareness and fine motor skills in children.
10:30-11:45 – JUNIOR VIRTUOSOS: FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS AND PATTERNS
Dedicated to the sequencing of fundamental movements such as rotation and elliptical shapes and their application to elementary repertoire.
11:45-1:15 – LUNCH ON YOUR OWN
1:15-2:30 – FLOW AND MUSIC: DEVELOPING INNER HEARING THROUGH MOVEMENT
In the first part of the session, we will use movement to enhance flow, pulse, and expression. We will also look at examples from the standard intermediate repertoire and apply the concepts explored throughout the day.