Faculty Profile

Beverly Lapp

Professor of Music
Department Chair

Education

BA, Goshen College, 1991
MM, Westminster Choir College, 1993
EDD, Columbia University Teachers College, 2012

Personal Information

Beverly Lapp, Professor of Music, teaches piano, piano pedagogy, and music theory and chairs the music department at Goshen College.  Areas of research are musicians and vocation, music as a liberal art, and the music learning experiences of children. Her work in applied piano is enriched by the opportunity to work with a wide range of non-music majors and music majors for whom piano is a secondary instrument.  Previous experience with community music schools and leadership of the Goshen College Piano Preparatory Department led to a passion for the training of future piano teachers.  Beverly serves on the Board of Trustees for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy and co-hosts the annual Goshen College Piano Workshop and Academy.

Courses

Mus 201 and Mus 202: Music Theory

Exploration of melodic, contrapuntal, harmonic, motivic, and formal principles of music towards a stronger understanding of how music is constructed. Although a variety of styles will be explored and used as examples, much of the course focuses on the “Common Practice Era”, Western music’s Baroque (1600‐1750) and Classical (1750‐1825) periods.  Course goals are to scaffold active knowledge from one principle towards accumulative skills that benefit musicianship in diverse venues, to use and deepen this active knowledge via individual and cooperative analytical work, and to use and deepen this active knowledge via creative engagement in arranging and composing.

Mus 208: Introduction to Piano Pedagogy

This first course in the piano pedagogy sequence focuses on the beginning student and on the materials and teaching techniques most effective for this level of instruction. The course includes weekly lecture-discussion sessions, observation of class and private instruction, and the supervised teaching of weekly private lessons.

Mus 272: Applied Piano

Individual lessons designed to help pianists of all levels experience growth as a keyboard artist.  Objectives are increased technical facility and comfort, increased accuracy and flow in sight reading, heightened understanding of stylistic considerations for three or more historical and/or compositional styles, and improved ability to self-critique and self-direct towards a more satisfactory sound experience at the piano

Mus 310: Private Teaching

With special emphasis on the intermediate level student, this course focuses on the integration of theory, skills and repertoire; the reconstruction of transfer students; adolescent psychology and piano study; and a survey of intermediate materials.

Mus 410: Senior Seminar

In this course we strive to do productive work preparing for post-graduate life and have meaningful conversations around vocational, curricular, and ethical/spiritual topics. Course objectives: Synthesis and evaluation of the college experience; Opportunity to reflect on the liberal arts experience; Assessment of the development of one’s own musical skills and ideas; Evaluation of personal strengths and weaknesses; Exploration of issues of ethics, spirituality, and discipline; Portfolio compilation.

Leadership of Study Service Term Units

• Peru (Summer 2006)
• Dominican Republic (Spring and Summer 1999).

Visit the SST homepage

Lectures & Presentations

Paper presentation at the College Music Society National Conference, Minneapolis, MN: “Music in Liberal Education: Contexts, Models and Recommendations,” September 2010.

Presentation to the Grand Rapids Piano Teachers’ Forum: “Teaching the Millenials: Ideas for Practice and Motivation,” October 2003.

Panel facilitator at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Chicago, August 2003.

Facilitator of Teaching Demonstration and Discussion at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Chicago, August 2001.

Demonstration teacher at the MTNA “Pedagogy Saturday” pre-conference seminar, Nashville, 1999.

Selected Publications

“The Art of Reflection in Music Learning.” American Music Teacher, August/September 2012 (accepted for publication).

Book Review of “My Nine Lives” by Leon Fleisher on the blog 100 Memoirs, June 2011.

“Humanities Music Lab Course Portfolio.” Peer Review of Teaching Project, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, May 2011.

“A Discussion of Common Reading Problems.” Keyboard Companion, Winter 2002.

“Did I Really Mean to Say That?” Keyboard Companion, Autumn 1998.

“Piano Pedagogy Musings.” Junior Keynotes, Fall 1996.

Grants & Fellowships

2012

Mininger Grant, Goshen College ($3000) to attend the IX Festival Internacional de Musica Renacentista y Barroca Americana, Misiones de Chiquitos, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, April 26-May 6.

2005-2010

Recipient of the Elin J. Stene Fund, the Kenneth E. & Ilamae R. Knapp Endowment, and the Merill Ostrus Staton Music Scholarship ($7,700), Columbia University’s Teachers College

1999-2003

Lilly Endowment – Author of the music portion of the K-12 Preparatory Initiative Grant proposal, awarded $230,000 for programming and equipment; served as supervisor of the project director of Goshen College’s “Acorn Music Project” during the grant period.

1992-1993

Covenant Presbyterian Church Award winner, Westminster Choir College.

1991-1993

Elsie Hilliard Hillman Fellowship, Westminster Choir College.

Memberships & Associations

Member of the Board of Trustees for the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy (FCCKP), appointed summer 2011.

Nationally Certified Teacher of Music by Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) since 1999.

Indiana Music Teachers Association (IMTA) and Goshen-Elkhart Music Teachers Association (GEMTA).

College Music Society.

Selected Performances

Joint recital of Baroque keyboard music with harpsichordist Bradley Lehman, Rieth Recital Hall, Goshen College, March 2011.

Afternoon Sabbatical: “Christmas with Beverly Lapp and Friends,” Sauder Concert Hall, December 2010.

Recital with violinists Amy Kauffman and Neil Dufallo at Goshen College, February 2004.

“Carnival of the Animals” duo piano solo with with Dr. Matthew Hill and the Maple City Chamber Orchestra, October 2002.

“Miniatures for the Piano” lecture recitals, Goshen College and Iowa Mennonite School, Fall 2002.

Beethoven Choral Fantasy piano soloist with Goshen College Orchestra and Choirs, October 2000.

Concerts of American Music with baritone Anthony Brown, June 1997.

Employment

1995-present

Music Department Faculty
Goshen College

1993-1995

Instructor of Piano
Harper Music Academy, Palatine, IL

1993-1995

Instructor of Piano
Community Music Division, North Central College, Naperville, IL

1991-1993

Junior Faculty Member
The New School for Music Study, Princeton, NJ