Learn Piano your way with a TakeLessons expert

By Robert R. - Winston Salem Piano Teacher

People all over the world love to play the piano. Studying piano at any age brings countless benefits and is a strong foundation for learning any other musical instrument or voice. If you’re looking to take piano lessons in Winston Salem, or anywhere within the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, opportunities abound for learning the instrument and for hearing great piano performances. Winston Salem, known as the “City of the Arts and Innovation,” is a thriving university town with a vibrant cultural arts district in its downtown. Music has always occupied a leading role in the city’s arts scene.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, located on South Main Street, is home to a renowned School of Music with a full slate of public recitals and concerts each year, many of which take place in the intimate setting of Watson Hall, a 300-seat auditorium that houses two beautiful Hamburg Steinway concert grand pianos. Hearing great music played by master artists on these instruments is an inspiration to any aspiring pianist. The school’s outreach extends further off campus, too, to the magnificent Stevens Center downtown, where piano artists perform regularly with the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra and the highly acclaimed Winston Salem Symphony. There’s no better way to learn the piano repertoire than to hear an engaged live performance.

Just a stone’s throw from UNCSA is Salem College, a jewel of an institution with a School of Music that is steeped in both tradition and innovation. Founded in 1804, the school boasts a thriving performance calendar and remarkable facilities, including a historic and highly admired 1938 Steinway concert grand in Shirley Recital Hall. The opportunity to hear such an instrument in this acoustically fine venue, whether it be in a solo piano performance, chamber music presentation, vocal recital, or choral concert, is not only enriching, but is "de rigueur" for any budding pianist in the city. Here is a perfect place to learn the art of listening for subtlety and nuance in piano playing while taking your piano lessons in Winston Salem. We learn so much from listening to others, especially in a live performance.

Winston Salem has much to offer pianists outside of the university scene, too. Jazz is alive and well in the Downtown Summer Music Series, including “Downtown Jazz” on Fridays and “Summer on Trade” on Saturdays in the evenings. Looking to buy a piano? Mitchell’s Piano Gallery has some great options, including digital and player pianos. Or, check out Piedmont Music Center, which for a limited time had in residence the actual Steinway grand that Vladimir Horowitz played in Moscow in his famous 1986 concerts.

Finally, a short venture down the highway is all it takes to attend the renowned Eastern Music Festival, in summertime residence at Guilford College in nearby Greensboro. The piano program there is an exciting mix of great master teachers and gifted young artists. Add chamber music and an accomplished symphony orchestra, and the results are top-notch music making.

In short, the city of Winston Salem and the surrounding Piedmont Triad provide a flourishing haven for motivated pianists of all ages and interests. If piano is your thing, you’re in the right place to be a part of it all. Time to practice!