2018 Crane Piano Pedagogy Conference Guest Clinician
Dr. Vanessa Cornett is the Director of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis – St. Paul, where she co-founded her university’s Project for Mindfulness and Contemplation. An international clinician, she has presented workshops and masterclasses in fifteen of the United States and in the U.K., Canada, Ireland, Finland, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Argentina, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. An active clinician for national conferences of MTNA and NCKP, she has also presented at the World Piano Conference, International Society of Music Education World Congress, International Conference on Spirituality and Music Education, International Conference of the Arts in Society, Annual Symposium of the Performing Arts Medical Association, the Centre for the Study of International Governance, and at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum. Her publications include book chapters in the fourth edition of Creative Piano Teaching, papers in American Music Teacher, the MTNA eJournal, Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, College Music Symposium, Clavier Companion, and a number of podcasts and webinars for musicians. She received outstanding teaching awards from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the Music Academy of North Carolina. A licensed hypnotherapist and certified meditation instructor, she specializes in performance anxiety management and performance psychology for musicians. She is author of the forthcoming book The Mindful Musician: Mental Skills for Peak Performance.
Crane Piano Pedagogy Conference Co-Directors
Kathryn Sherman directs the undergraduate and graduate programs in piano pedagogy and teaches keyboard skills courses at The Crane School of Music SUNY Potsdam. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music through MTNA, Dr. Sherman also serves as Co-Director of the biennial Crane Piano Pedagogy Conference. She frequently adjudicates for local festivals and auditions, and her teacher workshops have been presented throughout the United States. In summers, Dr. Sherman has taught pre-college students at the Midwestern Music Camp (KS), Midwestern Piano Academy (KS), Norman Piano Day Camp (OK), and Crane Youth Music Camp (NY), and she previously served on the faculty of Oklahoma City University, teaching class piano, studio piano, and piano pedagogy. In addition to teaching, Dr. Sherman regularly performs with Crane colleagues and guest artists; recent engagements have included playing at the International Double Reed Society Conference, the Crane Clarinet Summit, and in the Orchestra of Northern New York. Dr. Sherman earned a DMA in piano performance with an emphasis in piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, where she was awarded a prestigious campus-wide Graduate Teaching Award through the Office of the Provost. She also holds an MM from the University of Kansas and BM and BA degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Heather Wheeler holds a BM in piano performance from the Catholic University of America where she studied under Bela Nagy and Fernando Laires. She received her MM in education from the Crane School of Music SUNY Potsdam and currently serves as Associate Professor of Keyboard and Coordinator of Group Keyboard Instruction at Crane. In addition to teaching group piano, Heather offers introductory music classes for toddlers and maintains a private piano studio. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music through the Music Teachers National Association, Ms. Wheeler has stayed active co-directing the Crane Piano Pedagogy Conference, adjudicating and coordinating piano festivals, and presenting workshops across the state and nation. During the summer she has been the Piano Area Coordinator and an instructor at Crane Youth Music. Her performance experience includes a wide range of styles and has taken her to Asia and Central America as well as across the southern and northeastern United States.