Keyboard & Vocal Faculty

ROBERT
BEDFORD

PROFESSOR, PIANO, ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

321, Swope Music Building
610-436-2821
RBedford@wcupa.edu
bedford-alexander.com
alexandertechniquepa.com

Education

• B.M., The Juilliard School
• M.S., The Juilliard School
• Artist Diploma, The Juilliard School
• D.M.A., The Catholic University of America
• Certification, Alexander Technique International

Thoughts on SOM

I have always had a passion for playing the piano. But it is my love of teaching piano to students, who share a vision of studying piano performance, that drives me. Students benefit from my enthusiasm, sense of humor and extensive experience teaching and performing that I bring to their piano lessons. Students will explore and learn from my studies at The Juilliard School while incorporating the unique benefits of the Alexander Technique. I encourage students to influence the course of their lessons and the freedom to find their own way as I nurture the talent they were born with. Dr. Bedford teaches you everything he's learned during his 50-year piano teaching career at West Chester University and he is delighted to meet new students who are ready to take their work to a higher level of training.

Mission at SOM

Our culture both feeds and challenges music education and performance. Students and teachers engage in a duet of edification and effort, even struggling at times, often moving from the unknown to the known and onward toward the next unknown. When all is right, we learn, unlearn, and then relearn better ways to approach mastery in both education and performance.

I am most fortunate to have been trained in dual roles of teacher and as a facilitator aiming at new ways of learning and preventing disturbing tensions; my specialized training and subsequent certification nationally as an Alexander Technique Teacher has prepared me advantageously to evolve on the journey.

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Robert Bedford Professor of Piano WCU is the recipient of many awards including first place Piano Guild International Recording Competition, Gottschalk International Competition for Pianists and Composers, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, was soloist with Delaware Symphony, Little Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, Catholic University, and West Chester University Orchestras. His notable mentors include William Masselos, and Sascha Gorodnitski, Juilliard. Twenty three of his piano majors have performed Concerti with West Chester University Orchestra as winners of senior/graduate WCU Keyboard Department Piano Concerto competitions.

Numerous regional prize winning students have performed with Hershey Symphony, Newark Symphony, Kennett Square Symphony, Bridgeton Symphony, and Pottstown Symphony. A number of Dr. Bedford's graduates have secured tenured positions throughout the country as Faculty Members as well as Supervisors in notable public and private music schools including Upper Darby Schools and Wilmington School of Music, Delaware. Additionally, several graduates have obtained Assistantships at major Universities including Florida State University and Cincinnati University. Graduate Barbara Mason Benglian, who was appointed District Music Supervisor for Upper Darby School District, was also named Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year (2006). As one of few Piano Professors worldwide also Certified in Alexander Technique, he directs The Alexander Technique Center for Musicians, West Chester, PA, an inclusive piano teaching setting that hosts week-long summer workshops for musicians. Subsequently, Robert Bedford was named Resident Professor of Alexander Technique, WCU, offering his course year round that is open to non-degree students as well. A member of Music Teachers National Association he frequently adjudicates piano competitions for MTNA and PhMTA, was guest Artist Teacher at University of Florida Young Pianists Summer Festival, and was pianist and presenter at International Congress for Alexander Technique Teachers, Lugano, Switzerland. Recently he performed Art Tatum's piano transcriptions at West Virginia University annual Summer Institute for Classical and Jazz.Two DVD's, "Artisan Workshop" and "Keys to the Concert Stage" were recently released.

Robert Bedford will present his all Chopin Faculty Piano Recital scheduled for April 2016.

Wellness Health for Musicians
Dr. Bedford shares an approach to learning that appeals to all teachers. A working knowledge of the physical basis for gaining mastery of human coordination offers several advantages for teaching. As one of the few professors of piano nationally certified to teach the Alexander Technique, pianist Robert Bedford's DVD leads students through exact routines for teaching and performing using the principles of the F.M. Alexander Technique. A second DVD, released fall 2011, "Keys To The Concert Stage," traces Bedford's dual career development over 45 years teaching piano performance at the university level.

Videos and Audio