Michael Clark, DMA

Michael Clark is a pianist, teacher, and scholar noted for his “natural, clear, and nuanced” performances (Piano Magazine). An advocate for the music of Florence Price, he has presented recitals of her piano music on four continents. His debut album, Waltzes and Character Pieces of Florence Price, has been featured on classical radio stations in 48 U.S. states and 14 countries. His latest album, Price: Piano Sonata and Other Works, was released by Navona Records in March 2026. Described by Sonograma Magazine as “not only an object of aesthetic enjoyment, but an essential historical document that makes the canon of classical music a better and more inclusive place,” the album features premiere recordings of works first published in Florence Price: Rediscovered Gems for Piano Solo, an award-winning collection Clark edited for Hal Leonard in January 2025. He recently prepared Florence Price: Piano Works, a critical edition of 28 pieces for Edition Peters.

Devoted to practical solutions in pedagogy, Clark researches traditions of piano fingering and is the founder of Piano Tricks, an online database of fingerings and redistributions for more than 1,000 passages from the piano repertoire. He has presented at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the Music Teachers National Association Conference, and MTNA’s Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy (GP3) Forum. His pedagogical writing has appeared in Piano Magazine, MTNA e-Journal, and American Music Teacher, and he currently serves on American Music Teacher’s Editorial Committee.

Clark is Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Secondary Piano at Baylor University. He is the author of Baylor Piano Basics, an open-access textbook for collegiate class piano instruction. Clark previously taught in collegiate, studio, and community outreach settings in the Houston area. He earned a DMA in Piano Performance and a Certificate in Teaching and Learning from Rice University, an MM in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Houston, and a BM in Piano Performance from Ithaca College. His primary teachers include Robert Roux, Nancy Weems, Jennifer Hayghe, and Melinda Smashey Jones. Clark studied pedagogy with Courtney Crappell and John Weems and has been a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) since 2017.