Piano Teacher Joanne Baker
Joanne Baker, 1923-2004: pianist, teacher, adjudicator, MMTA member
The Joanne Baker Piano Scholarship (c/o Linda Robbins, Director of Development, Conservatory of Music, UMKC, 4949 Cherry, KCMO 64110).
The Joanne Baker Prize (Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, 138 West Broadway, Suite 220, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101).
One of the most beloved and sought-after piano teachers in America, Joanne knew from the start that she would become a musician. At age four, she gave her first solo piano recital in a career that would take her to Carnegie Hall and around the world.
One stormy night in 1944, lightning and thunder tore through Phoebus, Virginia, where Joanne was giving a recital. Somewhere in the middle of Chopin’s C# Minor Scherzo, the lights blew out. In total darkness, unable to see her hands or the keyboard, she forged ahead to the piece’s conclusion. She couldn’t see the standing ovation the audience gave her, just as they couldn’t see her bow.
After the war, she continued her education at the University of Michigan, where she earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda, and graduated number one in her class. Among her teachers were Quincy Porter, Joseph Brinkman, and Carl Friedberg, a student of Clara Schumann and Brahms.
As a young composer, Joanne wrote music for church, band, and choir, then went on to string quartets and solo piano pieces. After her piano sonata won a national competition, Joanne was invited in 1954 to play the piece at Carnegie Hall, where it was broadcast on national radio. But it was her love of teaching that would emerge as the primary focus of her career, and her students became a second family to her.
In 1948, Dr. Wiktor Labunski invited Joanne to join the faculty of what is now the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC). She became its longest-serving faculty member, teaching at the school for 49 years and chairing the Keyboard Division for the last 25 of those years. She was designated a Curators’ Professor, the University’s highest honor.
Joanne chaired the prestigious Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition for two decades in Salt Lake City and was the first American artist invited to teach in China after the Cultural Revolution. In these and other capacities, she was an ambassador for the UMKC Conservatory, attracting the finest talent from around the world to build a first-class Keyboard Division.
Her many awards include the Burlington-Northern Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, the Conservatory Trustees’ Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Standard Oil Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the Award of Merit from Mu Phi Epsilon. She was on the board of directors of the annual World Piano Pedagogy Conference, and a longtime member of Mu Phi Epsilon, the Music Teachers National Association, the Missouri Music Teachers Association, and the Kansas City Musical Club.
Her legacy continues in the form of The Joanne Baker Prize, to be given in perpetuity at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, recognizing that she is “known throughout the United States and the world as one of the most charismatic and exceptional musicians and teachers by her students and colleagues.”
In 2003, The Joanne Baker Piano Scholarship was endowed by the Women’s Committee for the Conservatory of Music, UMKC. Joanne’s presence is audible to all in the musicians she trained and in the music they are making throughout the world.
Bob, The piano sounds beautiful! I did some recording of it tonight. Suzanne
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Bob, Thank you for bringing my piano back to life! It sounds beautiful! Linda
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Hi Bob. . . Yamaha sounds fantastic! Great Job! Thanks so much, Carol & Wayne
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Bob, my piano sounds much better! I'm impressed with your ear and your knowledge.
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dear bob, just wanting to tell you, piano sounded great. yours is the best tuning I’ve had in years. let’s set up another time for some more magic.
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Hi Bob The piano sounds beautiful. Thank you. I’ll put you on the calendar for next year.
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Bob, I just wanted to tell you how wonderful the tuning job was, I never heard the piano sound better, either I am getting older and cannot hear or you are getting better, I think it is the latter. You...
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. . . the piano sounds great!
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Thank you, Bob, for the fabulous job you did with our piano. It sounds wonderful! Regards, Meryl Wade
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Thank you so much. We feel really grateful to have you keeping our piano in working condition. It’s so nice to have someone we can trust and who always does such a great job.
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Bob, I have owned the 1904 upright you recently tuned for over 50 years. I don’t know what magic you did, but I must compliment you! My sturdy old friend has never sounded better in all the years I have owned...
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Hi Bob. Thank you so much for the exceptional job you did tuning my husband’s old piano back on February 13th. He was thrilled and it sounds just gorgeous now! Best, Janet Mabon
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Thank you so much, Robert, for the wonderful job you did tuning my very old upright grand piano. Stopped playing long enough to write this review. You worked a miracle and what a thrill to hear those rich bass sounds...
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Just a note regarding my Schimmell grand piano. It sounds fantastic and bell like with very pure tone just like when I bought it. I played it quite a bit this weekend and as you noted one hears every note....
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Good morning Bob…….Thank you for sending the excellent report. It is well written, thorough and….well, perfect! You have mucho expertise when it comes to pianos…..we were lucky to have such a person….
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Very professional. . . . .
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My Hamilton console piano had not been tuned for over 6 years and moved from humid South Carolina to dry Tucson. So I called a friend, who plays the contemporary music at our church, and he immediately recommended Bob Conrad....
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Bob, your class at the Convention was amazing. Now I have a thirst for more. I am interested in your tunings for my SATIV.
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Bob is a great tuner. He has tuned not only my studio piano but those of my my voice and piano students. He’s more than just a tuner, he’s a fine technician as well. He’s a fine musician too, possessing...
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Bob did the best job possible tuning my piano which I had neglected for five years I am ashamed to admit. Thanks Bob it sounds awesome....
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