My name is Sibylle Kuder. I am a piano teacher and composer. As a teacher, I enjoy helping my students figure out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to playing the piano.
I was born and raised in Southern Germany where I studied piano with Barbara Fry, Winnenden/Stuttgart, and Andras Hamary, Stuttgart. I cherish the memory of masterclasses with, among others, Bruno Seidlhofer, Elza Kolodin, Edith Picht-Axenfeld.
I am very fortunate to have a multi-cultural musical heritage: growing up in Germany, studying with a Hungarian teacher who received her training in Austria under the great Viennese pedagogue Bruno Seidlhofer. Frau Fry insisted on the best in everything: from using Urtext editions to practice and performance. She supported and lead her students along the way to mastery, something I hope to now pass on to my students.
At Kansas State University, I attended the Graduate Program, studying piano performance with Robert Edwards, and piano pedagogy (the art of teaching) with Virginia Houser. I continue to attend master classes, workshops, conferences and conventions.
Currently, I am a member of:
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA),
Kansas Music Teacher Association (KMTA),
Manhattan Area Music Teacher Association (MAMTA).
Over the past 30 years I have taught all ages and levels, including non-major piano classes in the Music Department at Kansas State University, in addition to private, partner, and group lessons for children and for adults.
I have consistently been able to provide dedicated students with the preparation necessary to compete successfully at local and state competitions and auditions.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
While there is of course some direct teaching involved – I teach and, as a result, the student learns -, I also use my knowledge and experience to allow learning to happen without direct teaching, which means for instance that I do not always immediately correct a mistake. I do not immediately clarify something when a student seems confused but rather allow / guide the student to work through an issue and come up with explanations and answers that make sense to the student.
I do very little standardized testing, but I constantly watch closely and listen and thus test my students’ understanding of concepts we are working on. I intentionally allow some mistakes to happen because any mistake is useful information for me as it guides my teaching. I have also learned that often a student will realize their mistake and correct themselves.
COMPOSING
Ever since I started to learn to play the piano I’ve loved to improvise and compose. I currently self-publish at Sheet Music Direct as well as SheetMusicPlus. My published compositions can be viewed at https://compositions.sibyllekuder.com
PERFORMING
2019 District Fall Auditions at Kansas State University
2017 Goldberg Variations Aria da capo e fine in All Faiths Chapel at Kansas State University.
2016 Chinese Spring Festival Gala in McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University.
Occasionally, I keep track of the books I am reading.