The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastatingly disruptive to the traditional structures of music instruction, leading to widespread malaise, anxiety, and fear. How can we keep ourselves healthy in the face of extreme and unexpected challenges? Can we use this moment to examine and reframe our core principles, with an eye towards healthy outcomes and positive progress? What will we learn, and how will it affect us when the pandemic subsides?
Peter Jutras, Ph.D., NCTM, is the Director of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, where he also serves as Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy. He is a frequent presenter at conferences across the country and around the world, and he has lectured and taught at major conferences and events in Asia, Africa, Europe, and throughout North America.
For eleven years, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of Clavier Companion and Keyboard Companion, leading those publications through significant changes including a merger and the launch of a digital edition. He has published articles and research in The Journal of Research in Music Education, The Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and The International Journal of Music Education, among others. He is a leading expert on adult music study and the benefits of adult music participation.
In 2015, he launched an innovative program of distance piano education that connects UGA graduate students with Moi Girls’ School in Eldoret, Kenya, providing online piano lessons for girls at the school. This ongoing program has reached hundreds of students.
A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, Jutras holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Southern Methodist University, and the University of North Texas. He lives in Athens, GA, with his wife Kristin, a professional violinist, and their two sons, James and Andrew.