Carol Leone
Associate Professor of Piano, Co-chair of Keyboard Dept.
Carol Leone is Associate Professor of Piano and Chair of the Keyboard Department at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Dr. Leone has received national recognition as a performing artist and has been a prizewinner in piano competitions such as the National Beethoven Sonata Competition, the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the International Masters Piano Competition, and the Vietri Sul Mare International Duet Competition in Italy. Dr. Leone has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Her professional training included study at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she received a Certificate and was a student of the Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski. Dr. Leone was also a student of Guido Agosti in Rome and holds the prestigious Honors Diploma from the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. She received the Doctor of Musical Arts from the UNT College of Music.
Leone is active in national and international keyboard festivals and conferences as a performer, teacher, lecturer, and adjudicator. She has presented at the Music Teachers National Association Conference, the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, National Piano Teachers Institute, and the European Piano Teachers Association Conference (Czech Republic), among others. She was one of 10 teachers selected nationwide to serve as Mobil Ambassador to the 9th Van Cliburn Competition. She served on the piano faculty of the Bosendorfer International Piano Academy in Vienna, the Cliburn Piano Institute, the Kromeriz Piano Workshop in the Czech Republic, the International Fine Arts Institute in Moscow, the International Piano Master Class in Bojano, Italy, and the Tong-Il Han International Music Festival in South Korea. Her students have been top prizewinners in international competitions such as the Virginia Waring, the Bradshaw and Buono, the Chopin Youth Competition and the Stravinsky International Competition for Young Musicians.
Leone is the leading researcher and proponent for the technology of the 7/8-sized piano keyboard action and has worked closely with the inventor and builder to develop the technology to suit the small-handed pianist. Her articles on performance topics have appeared in American Music Teacher, Piano Today, Keyboard Companion, and The Texas Music Teacher. She has recorded for the Augusta Read Thomas Label, Gasparo Records, and Crystal Records. Among Dr. Leone’s many awards, she was named the 2005-2006 Texas Music Teachers Association's Collegiate Teacher of the Year.
Education
M.M. and D.M.A., University of North Texas College of Music
Certificate, The Curtis Institute of Music
Honors Diploma, Accademia Chigiana, Italy
B.M., California State University-Fullerton
Professional Experience
Performing artist, award-winning teacher, masterclasses and festivals throughout the U.S. and in Asia and Eastern and Western Europe
Publications
In Your Grasp, a piano technique method; Interpreting the Rhythmic Structures of Paul Creston, D.M.A. dissertation
Distinctions
National Beethoven Sonata Competition, First Prize ; Texas Music Teachers Association, 2006 Collegiate Teacher of the Year
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