DR. ROBERT PACE1924 - 2010

Musician, Teacher, Colleague, Friend

C E L E B R A T I N G

The Li fe and

Contributions of

Dr. Robert Pace is credited with having, in many ways, revolutionized the art of piano teaching

in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with his landmark ideas on both content and presen-

tation. As an educator, he passionately committed himself to helping students become independ-

ent learners and lifelong musicians. His vision of teaching music through simple ideas that could

be infinitely interrelated, reshaped, and revisited, has left an enduring legacy.

Early Years:

Robert Pace was born on June 22, 1924, in Newton, Kansas. During his childhood, he lived with

his family on a farm, and later, in town. His mother was a former schoolteacher. His father

owned a hardware store, and, subsequently, a meat processing plant, and

then a gift shop which both of his parents operated.

Robert began piano lessons at the age of five, and by the time he was nine,

was performing radio concerts three times a week, along with his violinist

sister, Mary. In addition to playing the piano, he also played trombone in

his Junior High and High School Bands. He was a great fan of Glenn

Miller, and sought to emulate the master �’s sound in his trombone playing. During these years,

Robert also played baseball, breaking a finger as a result, and worked at several jobs, including

delivering newspapers and selling poultry and eggs.

During his high school years, Robert became serious about his piano studies, and competed in

and won many competitions. In 1942, he graduated from Hutchinson High School and was ac-

cepted as a scholarship student by Joseph and Rosina Lhevinne for study with them at Juilliard

School of Music.

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An Enduring Legacy

His Life

The Army, Juilliard, and Beyond:

Robert's Juilliard studies were almost immediately interrupted for three years, when he was drafted into

the army in 1943. Corporal Pace served in the infantry in Germany, France and

Austria until 1945. After that, he became a lifelong pacist.

Upon resuming his Juilliard studies with Rosina Lhevinne in early 1946 (Joseph

died in Dec. 1945), Robert met and soon after married Juilliard scholarship vocal-

ist, Helen Crabtree. Robert and Helen are thought to be the rst couple of mar-

ried Juilliard students to have graduated from that institution. Helen collabo-

rated with Robert on books and recordings throughout their life together until she became disabled by

illness in 1998. The marriage between Robert and Helen lasted 62 years, up to her death in 2009. They had

four children, six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

Career:

After Robert earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Juilliard, he received a Master's and Doctoral de-

gree from Teachers College, Columbia University. He taught at Juilliard and subsequently at Teachers

College where he became head of piano instruction in 1952, and Chairman of the Music Department in

1969. Along with teaching at Teachers College, and developing materials for piano teaching, Dr. Pace

was national piano chair of the Music

Educators National Conference from

1953 to 1956.

During this time he also concertised,

appearing at the Isabella Stewart Gard-

ner Museum in Boston, with the Dow

Symphony Orchestra in Midland

Michigan and in other performances

throughout the country. From 1959 to

1962, he was piano editor for the Music

Journal. In 1962, he was appointed by John F. Kennedy to the original four-member panel charged with

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studying music and music education in the United States. He served

in this capacity until 1963, when the committee was discontinued

after the assassination of President Kennedy.

In 1963, Dr. Pace became director of the Na-

tional Piano Foundation upon its inception.

He served there fifteen years, until 1977,

when he became executive director of the International Piano Teaching

Foundation.

His Legacy

Dr. Pace is renowned for his work developing �“peer-teaching" piano lessons; for his curriculum of

�“Comprehensive Musicianship�” in which he organically integrated repertoire, technique, reading

and transposing, composing and improvising, analysis, theory, and musicality; for his develop-

ment of his Multi-Key approach; for his philosophy of life-long independent musical learning; and

for his abiding concern with the relationship between musical experience and its contribution to

the quality of life of the individual, and, in turn, society as a whole.

Dr. Pace received the 2003 Music Teachers National Association Achievement Award; an honorary

Doctor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey; and in 2008, the

Lifetime Achievement Award from the Music Educators National Conference. His books and arti-

cles have been translated into many languages and are distributed throughout the world.

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His Legacy