Dr. Janci Bronson is the Coordinator of Class Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Iowa State University. She teaches the music major class piano courses (MUS 127, 128, 227, 228); Functional Piano Skills for Keyboard Majors (MUS 327A); and Piano Pedagogy (MUS 415B). In 2021 and 2022, she won two ISU Miller Open Education Mini-Grants to create “Instructional Videos for Class Piano Courses.” In 2018, she was a recipient of ISU’s Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer award.
Her education includes a Ph.D. in Music Education, an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied with Drs. Jane Magrath and Barbara Fast. She holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. A Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, in Piano Performance was earned from Kansas State University.
Dr. Bronson is an active leader within the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). She is currently the Iowa Music Teachers Association (IMTA) Immediate past state President. Previously, she served as the IMTA state President, and state Technology chair, where she wrote biannual articles published in the Iowa Music Teacher magazine. She chaired the 2017 IMTA state conference planning committee, hosted at ISU.
Dr. Bronson was chosen as the 2016-2017 IMTA State Certified Teacher of the Year and received the 2017 IMTA State Distinguished Service award. Previously, Dr. Bronson served as the University of Oklahoma MTNA chapter President when they won the MTNA-Benjamin Whitten National Collegiate Chapter of the Year award. As an undergraduate, she served as the Kansas State University MTNA collegiate chapter President.
She frequently serves as an invited adjudicator, master class teacher, and guest clinician. Dr. Bronson has been invited to present for other universities, state MTNA conferences, state Pedagogy Workshops, and local music teacher groups
Additionally, Dr. Bronson maintains a successful private piano studio for beginners through advanced students. Her students win district and state performance competitions and have been accepted into prestigious undergraduate and graduate piano programs. In the summer of 2019, she solitarily designed and taught Children’s Intro to Piano classes for the Ames, IA, and surrounding communities.