About N. Jane Tan
N. Jane Tan (1940–2024) was the founder and director of The Well-Prepared Pianist Institute (WPPI) and the creator of the internationally recognized PianoTeams® ensembles. She was the only person ever awarded the title of Steinway Artist strictly for pedagogical work, a distinction that reflected her lifetime of innovation in piano education.
After more than thirty years on the faculty of Towson University in Maryland, Jane dedicated her career to developing and refining the WPPI teacher-training program and its multi-sensory, long-term memory-based pedagogy. Her work earned national and international recognition, including Steinway’s 150th Anniversary Standard of Excellence Gold Medal in 2006.
Jane’s goal was to prepare students not only for musical success, but for independent, confident learning throughout their lives. In WPPI training, teachers are taught the art of mentoring students in long-term development through left/right brain training, multi-sensory learning, and the cultivation of deep musical memory.
She also created PianoTeams®, an internationally registered trademark of WPPI, originally conceived in 1979 as a way to help college piano majors develop spontaneous musicianship through interactive music-making. Today, PianoTeams® ensembles include original works and arrangements performed worldwide by students and advanced artists alike.
Born in the Philippines, Jane came to the United States as a Fulbright-Hays scholar to study with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute. She later worked under mentors including Arthur Schnabel pupil Edward Mattoz. Her master teaching, artistry, and lectures brought her to institutions across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. As a composer and arranger, her works remain widely performed.
Although Jane is no longer with us, her influence endures through the thousands of teachers and students shaped by her training, and through the continuing stewardship of the WPPI community. Her legacy lives on in the pedagogical standards she established and the generations of musicians she inspired.
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