43 min
Shana Kirk on Yamaha Disklavier The Miller Piano Specialists Podcast | Nashville, TN
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- Music
Welcome to Miller Piano podcast episode number 5! It’s Christmas time, and we have a special Christmas treat for you piano lovers out there. In this episode, host Jason Skipper talks with Shana Kirk, a Yamaha Corporation of America consultant and product specialist as well as many many other things, which we learn about in this episode. Shana talks in detail about new piano technology, and how that technology can be used to address common 21st-century learning challenges. Topics discussed:
Shana’s Personal and Education Background
Life in Colorado
Yamaha Disklavier’s Piano Technology in the past 30 Years
How Shana Became Interested in Piano Technology
Common Piano Learning Challenges of Today and How the Yamaha Disklavier has Fixed These
Examples on How Teachers Take Advantage of Yamaha Disklavier’s Tech Features
How Yamaha’s Acoustic Pianos’ Headphone Technology Works
Distance Learning Tools
The Future of Piano Technology
How You Can Reach Out to Shana
Transcript
Jason Skipper 0:14
Welcome to the Miller Piano Podcast. I’m your host Jason Skipper. And in this episode, we have a talk with special guest, Shana Kirk. Shana is a consultant and product specialist with the Yamaha Corporation of America. She is frequently featured on event programs for organizations throughout the US and Canada. She writes music and music technology-based reviews and articles for blogs, websites and print publications, including Piano Magazine, and American Music Teacher where she co-authors the Tech Connect column. And it was just announced yesterday, I believe, that she is now the Director of Digital operations for the Francis Clark Center, among many, many other things. Shana, it’s an honor to have you with us today. Welcome to the podcast.
Shana Kirk 0:58
Thank you so much, Jason. It’s great to be here.
Jason Skipper 1:00
Did I get all that right?
Shana Kirk 1:02
You did, I think so. It sounds like a lot now that you’ve read it out loud.
Jason Skipper 1:07
Yeah. Well, I tell you, I missed a lot of it. Because honestly, reading from your bio, there’s so much there. I know just looking at your education, it’s incredible. Honestly, I’ve seen there you have a BA in Piano Performance and German from Lipscomb University, Master of music and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Denver and quite a few others that I honestly would just make a fool of myself trying to pronounce.
Shana Kirk 1:34
That German stuff is pretty tough.
Jason Skipper 1:36
Yeah, I was trying, I was looking it up trying to figure out exactly how to pronounce those in German, and I said nope. Maybe you can help us with that. Where else have you studied? What else have you done?
Shana Kirk 1:47
So I spent some time in Germany actually, while I was a student in Lipscomb, and I studied at the Goethe Institute, which is a language school. And I went to the Musikschule, which is a music school in Mannheim. And I spent a little time also at the University of Mannheim. And so I have always enjoyed dipping my toes in a lot of water, I guess. And I just am so fortunate to have a really multi-faceted career and a lot of interest that just keeps me engaged in busy and curious in every possible direction.
Jason Skipper 2:26
That’s awesome. I think to sum it up, I read this on your LinkedIn profile, and it’s really simple and to the point. I love it… it says, “I’m a pianist and a geek. And I combine those two qualities as often as possible”. Is that right?
Shana Kirk 2:40
Exactly, that’s exactly, exactly it.
Jason Skipper 2:42
I love it. I grew up playing the piano. I grew up playing music all my life, but I also consider myself a geek. I do a lot of those type of things. And I love playing with all the possibilities in technology with music, with MIDI and just, you know, working all these different things. So I love it.
Shana Kirk 3:01
There’s never been a more excit
Welcome to Miller Piano podcast episode number 5! It’s Christmas time, and we have a special Christmas treat for you piano lovers out there. In this episode, host Jason Skipper talks with Shana Kirk, a Yamaha Corporation of America consultant and product specialist as well as many many other things, which we learn about in this episode. Shana talks in detail about new piano technology, and how that technology can be used to address common 21st-century learning challenges. Topics discussed:
Shana’s Personal and Education Background
Life in Colorado
Yamaha Disklavier’s Piano Technology in the past 30 Years
How Shana Became Interested in Piano Technology
Common Piano Learning Challenges of Today and How the Yamaha Disklavier has Fixed These
Examples on How Teachers Take Advantage of Yamaha Disklavier’s Tech Features
How Yamaha’s Acoustic Pianos’ Headphone Technology Works
Distance Learning Tools
The Future of Piano Technology
How You Can Reach Out to Shana
Transcript
Jason Skipper 0:14
Welcome to the Miller Piano Podcast. I’m your host Jason Skipper. And in this episode, we have a talk with special guest, Shana Kirk. Shana is a consultant and product specialist with the Yamaha Corporation of America. She is frequently featured on event programs for organizations throughout the US and Canada. She writes music and music technology-based reviews and articles for blogs, websites and print publications, including Piano Magazine, and American Music Teacher where she co-authors the Tech Connect column. And it was just announced yesterday, I believe, that she is now the Director of Digital operations for the Francis Clark Center, among many, many other things. Shana, it’s an honor to have you with us today. Welcome to the podcast.
Shana Kirk 0:58
Thank you so much, Jason. It’s great to be here.
Jason Skipper 1:00
Did I get all that right?
Shana Kirk 1:02
You did, I think so. It sounds like a lot now that you’ve read it out loud.
Jason Skipper 1:07
Yeah. Well, I tell you, I missed a lot of it. Because honestly, reading from your bio, there’s so much there. I know just looking at your education, it’s incredible. Honestly, I’ve seen there you have a BA in Piano Performance and German from Lipscomb University, Master of music and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Denver and quite a few others that I honestly would just make a fool of myself trying to pronounce.
Shana Kirk 1:34
That German stuff is pretty tough.
Jason Skipper 1:36
Yeah, I was trying, I was looking it up trying to figure out exactly how to pronounce those in German, and I said nope. Maybe you can help us with that. Where else have you studied? What else have you done?
Shana Kirk 1:47
So I spent some time in Germany actually, while I was a student in Lipscomb, and I studied at the Goethe Institute, which is a language school. And I went to the Musikschule, which is a music school in Mannheim. And I spent a little time also at the University of Mannheim. And so I have always enjoyed dipping my toes in a lot of water, I guess. And I just am so fortunate to have a really multi-faceted career and a lot of interest that just keeps me engaged in busy and curious in every possible direction.
Jason Skipper 2:26
That’s awesome. I think to sum it up, I read this on your LinkedIn profile, and it’s really simple and to the point. I love it… it says, “I’m a pianist and a geek. And I combine those two qualities as often as possible”. Is that right?
Shana Kirk 2:40
Exactly, that’s exactly, exactly it.
Jason Skipper 2:42
I love it. I grew up playing the piano. I grew up playing music all my life, but I also consider myself a geek. I do a lot of those type of things. And I love playing with all the possibilities in technology with music, with MIDI and just, you know, working all these different things. So I love it.
Shana Kirk 3:01
There’s never been a more excit
43 min