Piano performance lab honors former professor

Martín Cuéllar and Paul Moore

An exclusive group of serious piano students at Emporia State University will soon take their art to the next level in the Paul Moore Piano Performance Lab.

The lab is named after Moore, who taught piano at ESU for 40 years before retiring in 2000. The lab will allow students to videotape their lessons and analyze their own techniques, thus maximizing their lessons from Dr. Martín Cuéllar, associate professor of piano at ESU and a renowned performer.

The videotaping equipment and storage cabinets will be in place by the fall 2007 semester. Then the music department will focus on endowing a $10,000 fund at the ESU Foundation to provide for the upkeep and maintenance of both the equipment and the lab’s Steinway & Sons concert grand piano. It was announced at a late January concert at ESU that the lab would be named after Moore, an honor he accepted alongside his three daughters and his wife Shirley, who taught vocal music at ESU.

As teachers of the piano, Cuéllar and Moore share an understanding of musical talent. Young people who have a gift for the piano “have no choice” but to satisfy a burning desire to perform, Cuéllar said. “Our goal is to take that raw talent that the students bring, and refine it and polish it,” he said.

Moore said studying the piano teaches students valuable life lessons. “It’s not instant gratification. It’s a daily thing. It’s a regimen. It’s a discipline. It’s a commitment,” Moore said. “It’s another way young people can develop a wonderful work ethic for their future.”

The combination of Cuéllar’s instruction and the new videotaping equipment “is a plus for this generation of students, and the future generation,” Moore said. 

Moore said “it was a great honor” to be recognized, but he was more pleased with what the lab will do for ESU’s piano students. He compared it to the Suzuki method of teaching violin, where parents attend lessons to reinforce the teacher’s instruction. “It’s a great teaching aid,” Moore said. “This (the videotaping) can act in a similar way.”

Cuéllar described the benefits of videotaping by speaking of his young son, who was learning to pitch. An ESU baseball coach volunteered to help, and began by videotaping the boy’s mechanics. Just as soon, his pitching began to improve.

Cuéllar used another sports metaphor to describe his small coterie of piano performance majors. A basketball coach, he said, doesn’t want just anyone suiting up – only those with the “talent, dedication and seriousness to excel.” Summer was under way in late May when Cuéllar, in his office with more piano benches (three) than chairs (one), was working with a student. The semester was over, but the dedicated student was pressing forward.

“Now he’s going to walk out of here and practice just from his recollections,” Cuéllar said. When the student is able to videotape the lesson, he’ll have another record of it, another perspective from which he’ll witness his performance. Students will see new things, Cuéllar said: “‘Ah, I didn’t realize my wrist was so low. I didn’t realize the bridge of my hand was collapsed. I didn’t realize I was so tense.’ I think their playing will improve tremendously from week to week.”

The Moores were active in the Emporia community, particularly at the First United Methodist Church – Paul played organ for 35 years and Shirley directed the choir. The couple moved to Topeka in 2005. “He’s a well-respected and well-loved individual in the community,” Cuéllar said.

Contributions to the Paul Moore Piano Performance Lab Fund may be sent to the ESU Foundation, 1500 Highland St., Emporia, KS 66801. For more information on the fund, call (620) 341-5440.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>