Kevin Gunter

kgunter@smu.edu

214.768.2695

Kevin Gunter

Senior Lecturer, Coordinator of Class Piano, Co-Director, SMU Institute for Young Pianists

Kevin Gunter serves as the class piano coordinator at Southern Methodist University, where he supervises graduate students in the Master of Music in piano performance/pedagogy program and teaches undergraduates, both music majors and non-music majors. Gunter holds degrees in piano from Samford University and Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Dr. Betty Sue Shepherd and Dr. David Karp, respectively. During the summers, Gunter is the co-director of the SMU Institute for Young Pianists, which hosts exceptional pre-college piano students from around the nation. He also teaches in the SMU CAPE Program (Continuing and Professional Education), hosting a weekly master class for adults. 

In association with The Cliburn, Gunter serves as a Program Host for Cliburn in the Classroom, a music education program designed to introduce young audiences to classical music. Cliburn in the Classroom is presented annually to more than 57,000 public elementary students across North Texas. The programs are offered at no cost to participating schools. Gunter recently served as a guest host for Cliburn Kids, a web series designed to introduce children to classical music.

Gunter maintains a small but active studio of pre-college students in SMU's Piano Preparatory Department, and his students have earned first prizes in Dallas Piano Solo, Dallas Symphonic, and DMTA Jazz/Pop competitions, the TMTA (Texas Music Teachers Association) State Composition contest, the TMTA State Solo contest (local and regional) and other competitions. His students have performed twice in recitals and master classes at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago. His students also attended summer festivals such as the Piano Academy at Indiana University and the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy. Most recently, his students won the local and regional rounds of the TMTA State Solo contest and were finalists and prize winners in the final rounds.

Gunter is an active musical director and performer in the Dallas theatre scene, having most recently been seen on stage at The Coliseum at Fair Park during Dallas Pride 2021, as well as serving as conductor/music director for When Pigs Fly at Uptown Players.  He has given hundreds of performances in over 70 different productions at theatres such as Uptown Players, WaterTower Theatre and Lyric Stage with acclaim from The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Culture Map, TheaterJones, Dallas Voice, Dallas Observer, BroadwayWorld and others. During the 2022 season, Gunter will serve as the conductor/musical director for the celebrated Broadway Our Way at Uptown Players.

Gunter serves as music director/conductor for the SMU “Broadway Anthems,” a collaboration with SMU Meadows students, as well as fellow professors Virginia Dupuy and Sara Romersberger. The troupe gave their first public performance at the 2019 Ima Leete Hutchison Concert at the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute in Taos, New Mexico, followed by performances at the Dallas Woman’s Club, SMU Owen Arts Center, and Northaven United Methodist Church. Additional performances throughout Dallas and Taos are scheduled for 2021-22.

Gunter is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, as well as the Texas MTA and Dallas MTA. He is also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the professional men’s music fraternity, as well as Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Tau Delta. He presented his lecture, “Trending Now: Your Future with Adult Students” at the 2019 Music Teachers National Association Conference in Spokane, Washington, and he is published in the MTNA e-Journal. 

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