About Amanda Byars

Education

  • B.M. in piano performance with honors; Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina
  • M.M. in piano pedagogy; Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas

Qualifications:

  • 30+ years as a music educator specializing in group and private piano instruction for children and adults
  • Former faculty member at SMU where she served as Coordinator of Class Piano and Instructor in Piano Pedagogy. Skilled in planning lessons for a variety of learning styles and interests
  • Private piano instructor at Brookhaven and Mountain View Colleges; Dallas, Texas
  • Co-founder and teacher of piano at Dallas/Music – a performing arts center; Dallas, Texas
  • Active adjudicator of festivals and competitions
  • Author of articles appearing in Keyboard Companion, Upbeat Magazine, the National Piano Foundation Piano Notes, and the Proceedings and Reference Report for the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy
  • Speaker at the Music Teachers National and Texas State Conventions on “The Adult Student – Meeting the Challenge”. Her committee work for the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy addressed the special problems unique to adult teaching

Associations:

  • Active member of the Dallas Music Teachers Association where she has served in several capacities on the Board including President in 1996-98
  • Texas Music Teachers Association serving as the Chairman of the Independent Music Teachers Forum, 1998-99
  • Music Teachers National Association

Honors:

  • Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities
  • Who’s Who Among American Musicians
  • Pi Kappa Lambda national honor society

Interests:

  • Active member of First Presbyterian Church, Dallas
  • Avid reader
  • Traveling with her husband
  • Supporter of the SPCA