Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith is an American pianist and pedagogue. While attending the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts she was nominated and awarded the 2015 Marilyn Ray Smith Pedagogy Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Study of Piano and the Art of Piano Pedagogy. Since 2007 the award has been given to a pianist who has exemplified the transformative power of music in the lives of students and the community. In 2013 she was a finalist at the Wisconsin Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Piano Competition, received multiple merit scholarships while at Longy, and was a selected performer for the piano showcase at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mrs. Smith holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed a Bachelor degree from Emerson College while acquiring a Diploma in Piano Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Previous teachers include Christopher Taylor, Dr. Hugh Hinton, Dr. Peter Miyamoto, Ayako Tsuruta, and Dr. Gloria Chuang. She has 17 years of teaching experience, and is deeply deeply influenced by the work of Dr. Edwin E. Gordon's Music Learning Theory and the principles of Dalcroze.

The enjoyment of music is the basis for technique, fluency, and expression. All students of all ages should be making music every lesson, from the very first lesson; music they can enjoy and understand, expanding their knowledge and abilities.