April 1, 2009
Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It is with great pleasure that I share with you exciting news from Salem College. Just this spring, the College officially approved the Professional Certificate Program in Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique*. To my knowledge, this is the first of its kind ever to be offered in the United States or abroad.

I designed this program in 2005 and have been teaching the core courses since 2006. The types of musicians who have taken these core courses are

• piano and organ students during “gap” years between degrees who want to work on their technique
  
• students with playing-related injuries who need to take a year off to rehabilitate and rebuild well-coordinated, injury-preventive technique
  
• professional pianists and organists who are injured or technically impaired
  
• teachers or college professors on sabbatical who wish to enhance their own technique and expand their ability to teach well-coordinated, injury-preventive technique

They are taught at one of America’s oldest NASM-accredited music schools and include

• biomechanics of injury-preventive, well-coordinated keyboard technique
  
• pedagogy of injury-preventive keyboard technique
  
• keyboardists’ injuries
  
• Alexander Technique
  
• applied lessons

So far, some 25 pianists and organists, either professionals or students from major conservatories, have enrolled in the last 3 years, including those from Canada, Iceland, and England. The interaction among the various students and professionals is highly stimulating. They also seem to really enjoy the beauty of our campus in the middle of 18th-century Old Salem and the rich cultural life in arts-friendly Winston-Salem.

Scholarships are available, and the total tuition for all courses is under $5000. Lodging and living in general are relatively inexpensive in Winston-Salem. Due to the intensive, hands-on, individualized nature of the training, we are limited to 15 participants per semester. I should also add that I have carefully built a team of health-care professionals (including orthopaedists, neurologists, physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, Alexander Technique instructors and complementary health practitioners) that is particularly sympathetic to the myriad injuries and problems that plague pianists and organists.  

I would deeply appreciate your spreading the word to any students or professionals you believe might benefit from this program. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at barbara.lister-sink@salem.edu or at 336-945-3051. Thank you so much for your kind attention, and I hope you are having a wonderful year in music.

With all best regards,

Barbara Lister-Sink

SALEM COLLEGE

• Click here to download a printer-friendly PDF of the Salem College Professional Certificate Program Press Release.
  
• For more information about becoming a Professional Certificate Program student click here to visit the Salem College Website.