Is There a Piano in the House? The Life, Story, and Thoughts of Dorothy Stolzenbach Payne. (Revised and expanded edition by Rebecca Payne Shockley, 2018)

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The story of Cincinnati’s legendary piano teacher has resonated for decades with piano teachers and students everywhere. A superb pianist and extraordinary teacher, she inspired and encouraged students of all ages, from beginners to the most advanced. As pianist with the Cincinnati Symphony for 20 years and wife of violinist husband Karl Payne, she raised three children, who all became professional pianists and teachers. She is remembered by many as the founder of the Keyboard Club, an organization started in 1935 to enable her adult students to get acquainted through monthly performance meetings. The club, still in operation, has sponsored music scholarships for needy students and hosted many special events, including concerts and master classes by many famous musicians, notably Percy Grainger, her longtime mentor and close friend. She describes some of the many adventures of club members, from a monster concert to a piano camp in Michigan to a tour of European music festivals, which enriched the lives of her students.

 

In this book, she recalls her early years (including her first three piano teachers, who believed she could never learn to read music because she played by ear), her years as a prize winning student and subsequent faculty member at the College of Music, her studies with famous pianists of the day, including Josef Lhevinne, Vronsky and Babin, and Percy Grainger, and her marriage and family life with her children. Her thoughts on teaching are as original and relevant today as they were when first published in 1985. In this revised and expanded edition, her daughter, Rebecca Shockley, has added new stories and photos to provide a more complete portrait of her mother and her lasting legacy.