Piano Lessons with Abigail Arkley

Abigail Arkley is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.M. in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Christopher Taylor. She has had the honor of performing in Aqui Terme, Italy on a 2-week artist residency, and performed on NPR’s From The Top as the recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Scholarship.She has played with the UWSO, the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, and in Minnesota Orchestra Hall as a finalist of the YPSCA competition. Abigail is an avid arranger and composer, performing original music for the UW Division of the Arts, the Chazen Museum of Art’s ‘Southern Rites’ exhibition, the UW School of Human Ecology ‘THREADS’ fashion shows, and the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Community Performance Showcases. She has worked with the Wisconsin Union Theater to program community events and concert seasons that highlight gender equity and artists of diverse backgrounds and music cultures.

As a teaching artist, Abigail places specific emphasis on healthy technique, mindful playing, and contemplative practice, as she believes it is crucial to instill at a young age an awareness of body and mind connectedness. She draws from both the Lister-Sink Method and self-authored teaching objectives that were shaped heavily by courses taken in piano pedagogy and musician mindfulness at the MA level with Dr. Jessica Johnson during her undergraduate studies at UW-Madison. Abigail uses her extensive training to give conscious musicianship tools to students reaching for their highest level of personal artistry. By weaving together her intensive classical education and professional background with her passion for teaching artistry and joyful musicianship, she creates an approach that is intuitive, rich, structured, and kind.