Robert Pace receives Achievement Award - Association News

American Music Teacher, June-July, 2003

Robert Pace, composer, concert pianist, lecturer and music educator, was honored with the 2003 Music Teachers National Association Achievement Award at the Awards Brunch March 19, during the MTNA National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. MTNA Immediate Past President Joan M. Reist, NCTM, presented the award.

"Robert Pace has had a monumental, far-reaching and lasting impact on the world of music teaching; he has developed materials and programs of study that have influenced--and inspired--teachers throughout the United States, Europe and Asia," said MTNA Immediate Past President Joan M. Reist, NCTM. "Countless students of all ages have been happy beneficiaries of his efforts to encourage creative and comprehensive piano lessons; he is truly deserving of MTNA's highest award."

Pace, of New York City, brought new concepts to piano pedagogy. His desire to enable all students to achieve their musical potential by becoming musically literate and independent had a major impact on keyboard pedagogy, being the subject of numerous radio and television programs. His piano instruction books have been translated into seven languages. Although he is officially professor emeritus at Teachers College, Columbia University, he continues in an advisory capacity with doctoral students and to offer special courses in keyboard pedagogy.

Born in Kansas, Pace began his formal piano studies at age 6. Throughout his youth, he enjoyed continued success, through recitals, a weekly radio program, and state and national competitions.

He met the famous piano team, Josef and Rosina Lhevinne, in Denver, Colorado, and was accepted as a scholarship student at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. During World War II, he served for nearly three years in the combat infantry in Europe. After the war, he returned to Juilliard to finish his degree and became a member of its piano faculty. In 1948, he began studying for a master's degree at Teachers College, and he received his doctorate in 1951. He was appointed assistant professor of music education and head of piano instruction at Teachers College in 1952, and later became chair of the music department in 1969.

Pace was piano editor of The Music Journal, national piano chair of the Music Educators National Conference and educational director of the National Piano Foundation until 1977, at which time he became executive director of the International Piano Teaching Foundation. He served on the original four-member committee appointed by President John F. Kennedy to make a study of music in the United States.

The MTNA Achievement Award is given annually to the individual who has shown significant and lasting contributions to music and music teaching in America.