Brenda Dillon
piano pedagogue . clinician . author . arranger . group piano and recreational music making specialist

“As Project Director for the Piano Manufacturers Association International and the National Piano Foundation, Brenda served on their board for more than twenty-five years. Because the members of these organizations respected her knowledge and experience and trusted her, she capably represented the teaching community at this influential table.” 

Brian Chung, Senior Vice President of Kawai America Corporation




“Brenda has done more to align the interests of educators, manufacturers, retailers and industry associations than any single person in the music community. The bridges that she has built among these entities remain firmly in place today as a result of her work. She has helped to bring the experience of playing a keyboard instrument well beyond its natural and traditional boundaries to reach more adult students and recreational music makers than ever before.”

Terry Lewis, Chairman, Yamaha Music and Wellness Institute

About Brenda

Academic:

After graduating with two music degrees from the University of North Texas (Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music), Brenda Dillon began her teaching career.

  • Music and English at a public school (Jefferson Jr. High in Grand Prairie, TX)
  • Group piano and music theory at two different community colleges (Mountain View and Brookhaven College in Dallas, TX). Teaching at the community colleges opened numerous opportunities to expand her horizons with participation and leadership in these organizations:
  • Chairman of the National Group Piano Symposium and the Texas Group Piano Association
  • Served on the keyboard committee for the Music Educator’s National Conference and also served as co-chair of MENC’s Music in Our Schools Week.
  • Organized a keyboard committee for the TX community colleges.

In addition to her organizational involvement, Brenda began presenting workshops at state and national conferences. Her group piano workshops led to invitations from educational organizations, as well as music industry seminars.

Before leaving community college teaching for music industry, she served as Dean of Fine Arts at Brookhaven College.

Music Industry:

Brenda’s formal association with industry began when she became Project Director for the National Piano Foundation. NPF is the educational arm of the Piano Manufacturer’s Association International (PMAI). She and her husband (Don Dillon, Executive Director of PMAI and NPF) collaborated on the following endeavors:

  • A Piano Popularization Program that promoted teaching adult students
  • Possible Dream Videos that were promoted to independent piano teachers
  • Teaching Bigger Fingers to Play, a kit that included slides, a script and presentation ideas
  • After-School Piano Program that brought group piano lessons into the public schools
  • Piano Marketing Essentials, a kit of ideas to promote the benefits of playing the piano
  • National Piano Month, a promotional event for piano retailers and teachers
  • SPELLS – Study of Piano Enhances Learning and Life’s Success, a program designed to encourage teachers, retailers and piano technicians to work together to promote playing the piano in their community
  • Celebrity Advocacy Video, a video that included leading actors, sport figures, senators and other professionals discussing how the discipline and enjoyment of learning to play the piano had helped them in their personal and professional lives. Also included was Schroeder, the lovable, piano-playing Peanuts character.
  • Additional brochures and videos that included An Open Letter to Parents, Possible Dream and Twenty-Questions Brochure, and Make a Home with Music Video.

Other projects included:
  • NPF Piano Notes, the official newsletter of the National Piano Foundation
  • Research at McGill University in Montreal, Canada to study elementary-age piano students to determine if piano lessons aided non-musical behaviors such as self-esteem, cognitive abilities and academic achievement.
  • The 21st Century Piano Project, a data gathering project to research piano buyers and what they expected from piano teachers, retailers and technicians.
  • Group Piano Seminars that offered group teacher training in select U.S. cities

After The 21st Century Piano Project confirmed that 54% of piano purchasers purchased their instrument for themselves to learn to play the piano, NPF initiated leadership in the development of Recreational Music Making programs and began sponsoring RMM seminars at the state and national level. Brenda organized these seminars and selected numerous presenters to assist with this endeavor. 

In addition to teaching RMM classes, Brenda began doing extensive teacher training throughout the U.S. She also developed materials, wrote articles and authored three books published by Hal Leonard and co-authored an RMM Handbook for Piano Teachers published by Alfred. 

(See menu for ARTICLES, PUBLICATIONS and RECREATIONAL MUSIC MAKING) 

Brenda’s more recent RMM presentations include:
  • International Society of Music Education (ISME) conference in Bologna, Italy
  • Presentations at Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) conferences
  • Presentations at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) conferences
  • Clinician at the National Piano Institute for Teachers and Young Artists at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX
  • Organizer and presenter at MTNA’s RMM Track on Pedagogy Saturdays

Additional activities include:
  • Serving as Academic Relations Manager for Coda Music Technology
  • Serving as an education consultant for Roland, U.S.
  • Serving on the advisory board of the Frances Clark Center
  • Formerly serving as associate editor of Keyboard Companion

NCKP Award:
Brenda received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in 2011.

The recipients of this award (L-R) include Brenda Dillon, Elvina T. Pearce, Martha Baker-Jordan and Frances Larimer. 

The awards were presented by Marvin Blickenstaff (L), Past President of The Frances Clark Center and Sam Holland, Executive Director of The Frances Clark Center.