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.

Close up of arms and hands playing a piano

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

Enrollment Form

Contact

Questions or concerns? Contact Danlei Yang at danleiyang@ku.edu.

Complete Calendar


Danlei Yang — Director, Community Music School

Danlei Yang, born in Chengdu, China, is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree under Dr. Scott McBride Smith at KU, where she is a graduate teaching assistant giving private piano lessons and accompanying voice and choral conducting studios. She joined the KU Community Music School as director in August 2022. Before studying at KU, she was awarded a full scholarship for her Bachelor of Music degree study with Dr. Tamás Ungár at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance and literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was awarded a full-tuition waiver and joined the Piano Laboratory Program as a piano instructor.

Danlei Yang

During her years at TCU, she studied Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Ann Gipson where she started her teaching experience and became a member of the Music Teachers National Association. As an educator, Ms. Yang devoted her passion to teaching. Her teaching philosophy is to work with the students patiently and be supportive to motivate them in their musical path. As a musician, Ms. Yang is a prize winner in international competitions, including the Franz Liszt Center Piano Competition (first prize), Charleston Winter Music Competition (second prize), IPPA Conero International Piano Competition (Honorable Mention in US division), and MTNA piano competition (honorable mention in KS division).

Ms. Yang has performed internationally as a soloist and ensemble member, including the performances at Semper Music International Festival in Italy in 2018, the tango ensemble concert in China in 2019, the KU ACMI concert in 2021, Atlantic Music Festival in 2022, and Artciál International Piano Festival in 2023. In addition, Ms. Yang has performed in many prestigious masterclasses including Yoheved Kaplinsky, Ian Hobson, Victor Rosenbaum, and more.