Faculty & Staff Directory

Janice Meyer Thompson

Janice Meyer Thompson, pianist, has enjoyed a diverse career as soloist, collaborative artist, lecture-recitalist, and master teacher across three continents. Her playing has been acclaimed for its "beautiful sound, easy versatility of style, and remarkable sensitivity to phrasing and nuance" (Chicago Sun Times) and for its "stylistic versatility as well as technical mastery" (Fanfare). Thompson has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, with recitals and master classes presented in the premier conservatories of China (Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing Central Conservatories) and South Korea (Seoul National, Hanyang, Yonsei, Kyung-Book and Ulsan Universities). She has toured extensively as pianist for The Kent Camerata, a five-member international vocal/instrumental chamber music ensemble, throughout Italy, Germany, Ireland, Canada and the U.S. Highlights have included recitals at the American Consulate in Florence, the Maggio Musicale and Val Tidone Festivals, and the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Ms. Thompson also maintains a lively schedule of coast-to-coast performances, workshops and master classes with Vermont pianist Elaine Greenfield in The Transcontinental Piano Duo. Reviews note the Duo's "impeccable ensemble" and "great musicianship and versatility." Their most recent recording – French four-hand works performed on an historic Erard piano at the Frederick Collection (Ashburnham, MA) – will be released by Centaur in 2010.

Ms. Thompson is a frequent presentor at national and international music conferences, including the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and the World Piano Pedagogy Conference, and is a member of the Adamant Music School (Adamant, Vermont) summer artist faculty. Jan Meyer Thompson is recorded on compact disc in performances with The Kent Camerata (Kent Camerata Favorites), with singers Mary Sue Hyatt and Jane Dressler (Song Upon Song, TimeGrabber Digital) with bassoonist David DeBolt (A Musical Painting Comes to Life, Crystal CD 841), and with Transcontinental Piano Duo partner Elaine Greenfield, (Piano 4-Hands, Concert Favorites, French Four-Hands: The Elegant Erard Centaur).

Dr. Thompson is nationally recognized for her leadership in the field of piano pedagogy and for her academic accomplishments as Professor of Piano at the Arizona State University School of Music in Tempe. She is founding director of the ASU Piano Prep and Conservatory Programs and coordinator of piano pedagogy degrees at ASU. Her published articles have appeared in American Music Teacher, Clavier, Keyboard Companion, and in the Proceedings of the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. Ms. Thompson holds the Doctor of Music degree in Performance-Chamber Music from Northwestern University, where her principal teachers were Gui Mombaerts and Donald Isaak.

The Kent Camerata
The Transcontinental Piano Duo