By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
A local piano instructor has been inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.
Fayetteville resident Amy Heyman was selected for the hall of fame after being nominated by dealership Artist Pianos Syracuse.
Though unable to attend the late October induction ceremony in Astoria, Queens, where the Steinway factory is located, Heyman said she was “humbled” by the recognition of her work as a piano teacher.
“It feels great,” she said. “I’m very honored, because I’ve always looked up to Steinway as a great manufacturer of pianos.”
An owner of two Steinway pianos for her household, Heyman said she appreciates that the company supports the education side of the instrument.
She said her aspirations to learn the ins and outs of the piano came along at a young age.
“I always wanted to play the piano when I was growing up,” Heyman said. “My grandmother played the piano and she also taught, so I was very influenced by that.”
Because of her father’s Air Force duty, Heyman’s immediate family moved around “quite a bit.”
It wasn’t until their relocation to Kansas when she was eight years old that she started sessions with a teacher.
Now Heyman offers lessons for students, something she has done in her own private studio for about 30 years.
Every weekday afternoon, she teaches lessons varying in length between 45 minutes and an hour depending on the needs and age of a particular student.
She said her teaching style combines pointers on theory and technique as well as a provided choice of repertoire pieces that “makes sense” for each student.
Heyman said she hopes to instill a love for music in her students while trying to make their weekly recurring lessons enjoyable.
“We try to have fun in the lessons,” Heyman said. “It’s not just a serious thing, although it is serious for me, but I like to make it a little more lighthearted.”
She also serves as a part-time faculty member at Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music, where her husband, Steven, also teaches.
Her university instruction on keyboard skills caters to full classes of up to 12 students each.
Heyman also runs four piano competitions every year through the Central New York Association of Music Teachers: an unranked elementary competition for those ages eight and nine, a junior-level competition for ages 10 through 12, an intermediate one for ages 12 to 14 and another for senior-level high school pianists 15 and older.
In addition to appearing at music festivals across the country and a number of benefit shows, Heyman has performed as a featured artist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
Heyman and her husband are past recipients of the Tiffany Award from Civic Morning Musicals.
For this fall’s Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame induction class, Heyman was selected alongside 42 other teachers from the United States and Canada, and their names are exhibited on a commemorative display inside the piano company’s New York City factory.
