KU Community Music School
The KU Community Music School strives to inspire students of all ages to develop and nurture their joy in music. We offer programs in private piano instruction at various intensities with a wide array of performance opportunities. The University of Kansas School of Music provides us with a home for our private lessons, studio classes, master classes, and recitals. Aspiring graduate students from the School of Music provide quality instruction under the guidance of world renowned pedagogue and Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy, Dr. Scott McBride Smith.
The KU Community Music School offers private piano lessons to students of all ages and interests. Lessons are held once every week, with 30 weeks of lessons in the academic year.
Piano Basics
- This program is for the student who loves to learn and enjoys making music. It includes 30 weekly lessons per year, and students perform on each of the four recitals. The cost is regular tuition. See tuition contract for more details.
Accelerated Program
- Students who love to perform and compete will benefit greatly from this program. In addition to regular lessons and recitals, students have the opportunity to participate in KCMTA events, and KU studio classes and master classes. The cost is regular tuition plus entrance fees, which vary by event. See tuition contract for more details.
Policy and Tuition
Complete Calendar
Newsletter
2013-2014
2012-2013
Alejandro Avila - Director, Community Music School
Pianist Alejandro Avila was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, and began his piano studies at the age of 7. Concluding his conservatory studies in Asuncion, Alejandro was awarded a full scholarship to pursue his BM in piano performance at São Paulo State University, in Brazil, where he studied with renowned Brazilian professors Dr. Cláudio Richerme and Dr. André Rangel. After graduating in São Paulo, Alejandro got a full assistantship position at Central Michigan University, where he worked as a piano instructor and collaborator for choir, instrumentalists, and singers. During these two years, Alejandro pursued his Master of Music degree in piano performance studying with Portuguese pianist Alexandra Mascolo-David. Alejandro is recipient of several prizes and music awards. Among these is the first prize at Rosa Mistica competition in Curitiba, Brazil when he was 15, the first prize at Momento Musical competition in Asuncion, Paraguay, in 2012, and last fall Alejandro placed second at the KMTA Honors competition at the graduate level. Currently, Alejandro is pursuing his DMA degree at the University of Kansas and studies with Dr. Michael Kirkendoll. An enthusiast of chamber music and Latin-American repertoire, Alejandro performs regularly with singers of the Kansas area. He is a co-founder of the Meadowlark Project, a new music ensemble that brings Kansas-based art songs into new audiences. In his free time, Alejandro plays keyboard and sings in his Lawrence-KC-based Brazilian band Balacobaco.
Anthony Lee
Mr. Lee is an American-born pianist who began his piano studies age 7. Lee followed a competitive school track, attending the Interlochen Arts Academy (2005-2006), University of Michigan (2006-2010), and Eastman School of Music (2010-2013) where he studied with Yoshikazu Nagai, Logan Skelton, and Natalya Antonova, respectively. Since completing his Master's degree with assistantships in class piano and accompanying, Lee participated in the Isidor Bajic Piano Memorial International Competition in Novi Sad, Serbia in March, 2014. In chamber music, Lee performed the Schumann Piano Quartet for the New Mexico Chamber Music Festival in 2015, the same year he was a semi-finalist for the American Prize. Lee is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in piano performance studying with Professor Steven Spooner.
Klaus Nugraha
An honors graduate of National University of Singapore under full-scholarship, Klaus Nugraha earned his Master’s from New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA) and is currently pursuing a doctorate in piano performance at the University of Kansas where he is a graduate teaching fellow. In 2014, Klaus was selected by President Susilo Yudhoyono and his administration, as a recipient of the Indonesia Presidential Scholars Award. His achievements include numerous first prizes and jury discretionary awards at 2009 Indonesia Open, 2009 London College of Music (LCM) and 2009 French Piano Competition; and recently, Klaus won third place in Pittsburg Piano Concerto Competition (2019) and was one of the finalists in the University of Kansas Concerto Competition (2017). As a composer-songwriter, Klaus has been commissioned to write for numerous award-winning musicals in Singapore, namely: Echoes of the War Drum (2013), Dance of the Earth (2013), Canting (2012) and several others. The musical Echoes of the War Drum won a silver medal in 2015 National University of Singapore Student Achievement Award and his latest, Galigo was recently staged in Singapore’s National Library-Drama Theatre in 2017 and sold full houses. His studies have been generously supported by Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, as well as Singapore’s Ministry of Education, and National Art Council. Klaus is incredibly grateful to have learned from Albert Tiu (of National University of Singapore), Victor Rosenbaum (of New England Conservatory of Music), and Jack Winerock (of the University of Kansas). and sold full houses.
