Kate Acone is a pianist and pedagogue with a particular interest in popular music and education. 

I’m a teacher and pianist currently based in Toronto, Ontario. In 2023, I wrapped up my Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, where I researched how classical piano pedagogues teach popular music.

My primary goals as a performer are to engage audiences, program under-represented composers, and perform new music. These aims have taken me from The American School in Switzerland, where I programmed concerts for 300 students of varied English proficiency, to Carnegie Hall’s Audience Engagement Institute, where I performed for veterans and schoolchildren with a saxophone-violin-piano trio. I’ve also collaborated at the Yarn/Wire Institute, the Brevard Music Center, and with the University of Toronto’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. My performance roots are in church and musical theatre, including five years on staff at the University of Oklahoma Musical Theatre Department.

I’m extremely passionate about quality student-centered teaching and run my own studio, in addition to teaching virtually for the Faber Piano Institute. Previously, I’ve been on staff at The American School in Switzerland, the University of Toronto, and the UofT Piano Pedagogy program. During my time teaching in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I was the recipient of the MTNA’s 2018 MarySue Harris Studio Teacher Fellowship, a national award for an entrepreneurial studio teacher. I’ve taught ages 4-81 and span as many genres as possible.

My research interests are women composers, creative and popular music teaching, and culturally sustaining pedagogies. I’ve presented at the MTNA National Conference, the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy, and the Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum (GP3), among others. My study on undergraduate pianists and women composers was published in the MTNA E-Journal. Teacher education is especially important to me, so I have given webinars for the Frances Clark Center on creativity and currently teach popular music pedagogies in the undergraduate piano pedagogy courses at the University of Toronto.

I am always looking for new opportunities to learn and collaborate - please feel free to reach out at my contact page with any projects or questions!