Greg McCallum - Teaching

Piano Studio – Redbud Community in Pittsboro, NC

Greg McCallum has been teaching since he graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1990 with a Master's Degree in Piano Performance and Literature. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, Germany. His teachers include Grace Watson, Michael Zenge, Arne Torger, Nelita True, Maria Curcio Diamand, and Ronald and Carlyle Hodges.

Currently, Greg teaches a small studio of advanced pianists in his Pittsboro, NC home and is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association. Many of his students have won prizes in regional and international piano competitions. He has also taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an adjunct faculty member, and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Summer Piano Camp. Early in 2008, Greg served as an adjudicator for the 60th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, and was invited to return in the summer of 2008 to give recitals, master classes and serve as an adjudicator for the Great Melody School of Music Competition in the New Territories in Hong Kong. Greg has also given master classes, workshops, and served as an adjudicator for competitions and festivals across the United States. Since Greg began teaching in 1990, his piano students have won top honors in the following competitions: Arthur Fraser International Concerto Competition at Southeastern Piano Festival at the University of South Carolina (2008); Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition (2008, 2007); North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition (2005); Raleigh Symphony Concerto Competition (2008); Durham Symphony Concerto Competition (2003); Winston-Salem Symphony Concerto Competition (2006); Tar River Orchestra Concerto Competition (2005); Mallarmé Youth Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition (2005); MTNA Senior Performance Competition in North Carolina (2007, 2004, 2003); MTNA Junior Performance Competition in North Carolina (2004, 2002); MTNA Senior Composition Competition in North Carolina (2006); MTNA Southern Division Composition Competition (1996-1998); MTNA Elementary and Junior Composition Competition in North Carolina (1996-1998); Campbell University High School Piano Competition (2004-08); CHMTA Festival of Auditions (1992-present); NCMTA State Contest Festival (1992-present). Greg currently teaches a small studio of dedicated students, many of whom plan to major in music in college. He teaches weekly lessons that vary in length from one to three hours. Longer lessons are needed at this level of advancement to cover technical work and longer repertoire selections. Greg incorporates theory studies and music history in the context of the lessons. Many of his students go on to study Advanced Placement Theory in high school. Greg feels that it is critical that students have a solid technical foundation in order to perform advanced masterworks, such as concerti by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. He also believes that technical mastery frees up the ability of the student to express their emotions through a rich tonal palette and interpret great works of art. His students perform music from Bach to contemporary compositions, and several have premiered new works by living composers. For students who show an interest in composition and improvisation, Greg highly encourages them to devote time to these creative means of musical expression. Several of his students have won regional competitions for their compositions, and have written works for local performing groups. Greg stresses the importance of sight-reading and his students use their skills to perform chamber music and serve as accompanists in churches and local music organizations. Music is a vital part of a well-rounded education, and many of Greg's former students have chosen other careers and studied at such prestigious schools as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Stanford, Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. Feldenkrais Work Over the past four years, Greg has studied the Feldenkrais® Method of movement and somatic education and has seen dramatic improvement in all aspects of his performance. Greg also applies Feldenkrais techniques to his teaching and has seen the same kind of progress in his students' work. Greg has worked with Feldenkrais practitioner Candace Conino of Chapel Hill and is currently enrolled in the Feldenkrais® Method Training Program in New York, where he studies with David Zemach-Bersin, one of Dr. Mosché Feldenkrais' first American students. David has worked with many renowned classical musicians, including pianist Richard Goode, and is on the faculty of the Marlboro Music Festival. Greg plans to publish an innovative piano method and DVD based on this work, which will make a major contribution to the field of piano pedagogy in this century. He also plans to hold an international piano institute in France at Chateau du Pin (www.sci-le-pin.com) for teachers and students. For more information on the Feldenkrais® Method, please visit www.feldenkrais.com. Studio News Greg currently has openings in his studio. Please email Greg to schedule an audition for the 2009-2010 school year. Photo Gallery
2010 CHMTA Music Festival Winners: Jingwei Song, Roman Lin & Alice Yu
May 2009 - Piano Studio Recital in Chapel Hill, NC	Emily Russ - Winner of National Association of Christian Schools Piano Competition (2008 & 2009)