5 minutes with ... Gary Amano.(Professional Resources)(Interview)

Gary Amano is director of piano studies at Utah State University. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Amano's students have won national and international prizes, including first-place awards at the national level in MTNA's Junior, Senior and Young Artist competitions.

When I first met you face to face ("mano Amano"), I was struck with how personable and laid back you are. How do you motivate your students to such wondrous heights of achievement?

Students will often go beyond your expectations as long as you don't put limitations on them. I borrow from both behaviorist and humanist philosophies, realizing that what works for one student can be totally ineffective for another.

An example?

I divided my advanced pedagogy class into teams to analyze specific Beethoven sonatas. It was a weekly competition, with teams presenting the most insightful analyses getting exempted from the big final test. Beethoven was my ally in creating a real desire to study great material; it was amazing how insightful the students became in order to bypass the final. You could say my motivators were class camaraderie, team competition, Beethoven's genius and test evasion.

Do you have any advice for new, young adjudicators?

I was nervous to judge my first competition, so I consulted my boyhood teacher, Irving Wassermann, for advice. He related an incident that occurred when he had previously judged the same competition. Before everything started, one of the judges leaned over to him and whispered, "Contestant number one is starting with the Bach Italian Concerto. Should we hear it with or without the second piano?" I went to judge with renewed confidence.