Degrees

The Lamont School of Music offers bachelor of music, bachelor of arts, and master of music degrees in piano performance. In addition to private keyboard studies, Lamont places strong emphasis on collaborative work. Students have numerous opportunities in chamber music , accompaniment, and other ensemble performances. Those interested contemporary music styles can also pursue the Jazz Studies and Commercial Music Program. All undergraduate music degrees at Lamont are suitable for the Public School Teaching Licensure Program offered through the College of Education.

 David Genova, associate professor of piano and director of the community program, is founder of the Lamont electronic music studio. He teaches courses in electronic music, recording technology, and piano pedagogy. Mr. Genova received his bachelor of music and master of music degrees from the University of Colorado and has done post-graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin. He has studied standard piano repertoire performance with Leonard Shure and avant-garde repertoire with David Burge. Mr. Genova has authored a set of computer-based music training programs.

 David Montano, director of piano pedagogy, is coordinator of group piano studies at Lamont. His degrees include a bachelor of music in piano performance from Indiana University, a master of music in piano performance from the University of Arizona, and a doctor of musical arts in piano pedagogy from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He also holds a Licentiate Performer's Diploma from Trinity College of Music in London. Dr. Montano has appeared as a soloist with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Concert Orchestra and performs duet and duo-piano repertoire with Valerie Lewin Montano, his wife. He has published research articles in professional journals, co-authored a textbook for adult keyboard instruction, and given numerous presentations at music teachers' conventions. He has served in many capacities in music educators' organizations and is editor of the Colorado Music Educators Association Journal.

 Alice Rybak, instructor of piano, has won several prestigious competitions and awards. Ms. Rybak entered the Julliard School at age seven, where she studied piano with Herbert Stessin. She studied piano and chamber music with Menahem Pressler, Abbey Simon, and Janos Starker at Indiana University's School of Music. As a soloist and collaborative artist, she has performed across the country, making appearances with the Denver Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, and National Repertory Orchestras as well as at New York's Town Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and on WNYC radio. Ms. Rybak has toured India, Thailand, and Malaysia under the auspices of the State Department's Artist Ambassador program. As half of the acclaimed piano duo Quattro Mani, she has performed with numerous orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. Ms. Rybak has performed with a wide variety of musicians, including Dylana Jenson, Sergiu Schwartz, and Metropolitan Opera mezzo soprano Judith Christin. She teaches at Indiana University's School of Music Summer Piano Academy and is pianist for the Denver Trio.

Todd Fair
Having earned a degree in piano/music education from Pennsylvania’s West Chester University in 1974, Todd Fair enrolled at the Netherlands Carillon School in the area where the carillon originated.  In 1977 he was awarded the Final Diploma and in 1979 he won a competition and became the first non-Dutch carillonneur for the City of Amsterdam, which has employed carillonneurs to perform at the prestigious Old Church since 1537.  In 1984 he joined the faculty of the Netherlands Carillon school and from 1987-1990 he taught at the Scandinavian Carillon School in Copenhagen.  In 1980 Fair gained playing awards in France and The Netherlands and in 1988 he received the Berkeley Medal for distinguished service to the carillon art.  He has presented workshops and guest recitals in nearly all the countries having carillons, including Australia and Japan.  During the 1998-99 academic year he served as acting carillonneur for the University of Michigan.  During this period the new carillon position at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music was announced, to which Fair was appointed starting September 1, 1999.

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