Dorian Keyboard Festival

Please reference our 2023 schedule until we post our 2024 schedule in July 2024.

Reach out to dorian@luther.edu with any questions about the schedule.

Dorian Keyboard Festival Schedule

Frequently Asked Questions about the Dorian Keyboard Festival

How much does the Keyboard Festival cost to attend? – The only fee during the festival are the actual lessons themselves. Meals and Luther merchandise are not included in the cost and we need to be paid for by the attendee.

• 20-min closed session ($35.00)
• 20-min masterclass session ($35.00)
• 30-min masterclass session ($45.00)
• 30-min closed session ($45.00)

Where does the Keyboard Festival take place? – All festival events will take place in Luther College’s Jenson Noble Hall of Music. The address for Luther College is 700 College Drive, Decorah, IA 52101. A map can also be found on this main webpage.

Who is able to register the keyboard students for the festival? – Private lesson teachers, parents, or the student themselves. Since we accept all registrants for the Keyboard Festival, anybody can register the keyboard students. The registration form asks for both teacher and parent contact information so that we can update our contact lists and send out information to the appropriate parties.

What should I bring to my lesson to play? – Students should prepare one, at most two pieces, to play for their lessons at the festival. The total time of piece(s) should not be more than ten to twelve minutes for one teaching session. However, students have the option to play for different instructors at the festival, and they can choose to feature a different piece(s). The repertoire can be chosen from Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, or Contemporary style periods. Works for one piano four-hands and two pianos can also be featured.

Who brings students to the festival? – The Keyboard Festival is set up slightly different than other Dorian Festivals that we host here at Luther. For the Keyboard festival, students may drive themselves, parents can accompany their students, or their private lesson teacher can attend with their students.

What if I can only make it for half of the day on Saturday? – While we encourage participants to stay for the entire festival, we completely understand that your lives are very busy! On the registration form, you can indicate if there are any times that would NOT work in your students schedule. When we are creating the students lesson and workshop schedule, we will do our best to respect and accommodate those time requests.

What are “Student Performances”? – These performances on the schedule are the lessons that the festival attendees take with our piano faculty. We offer two different types of performance sites: An open session performance and a closed session performance. The closed session is essentially a one-on-one lesson with a member of the piano faculty. An open session is a lesson with our faculty that is open to other festival attendees to attend and watch.

Who plays on the Student Honors Recital? – During the Student Performances throughout the day, our faculty will pick a number of students to perform that evening who have demonstrated excellence on the piece (or pieces) that they have prepared for the festival.

Organ and Harpsichord Workshops – Based on interest in students’ registration forms, we will assign students to attend one or two of the workshops. These workshops are optional for participants, but attendance to at least one is encouraged!