“Beyond Fast Fingers: Nurturing Virtuosity in the Piano Studio” 

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Dr. Mike Messer, a guest instructor of music at Wheaton College, loves adventuring into the world of music alongside his students. He became a teacher because getting to know his students and fostering their musical growth is so rewarding. He strives for each of his students to develop a unique musical understanding, learn new technical skills and explore their creativity.

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Dr. Messer hold a doctor of music degree in piano performance with a minor in historical musicology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Christopher Taylor. He earned a master of music degree in piano performance with cognate in collaborative piano from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he studied with Winston Choi, and a bachelor of music in piano performance from Wheaton College, where he studied with Karin Redekopp Edwards.

He was been a winner in the Beethoven Piano Competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Scriabin Piano Competition at Roosevelt University and the Keyboard Concerto Competition at Wheaton College. He received the Leon Iltis Scholarship and the Howard & Francis Karp Scholarship from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Evalin Endowed Scholarship from Wheaton College and was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Green River Community College.

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He has performed  at the Claude Debussy Festival in Madison, Wisconsin (2018) and with the Seattle Festival Orchestra (2010) and has taken master classes with Evelyne Brancart and Edward Auer.

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Along with co-author Kangwoo Jin, Dr. Messer wrote “Learning to Listen: Instagram as a Supplement to Studio Class,” which appeared in American Music Teacher, April/May, 2019.

“Dr. Mike” has been a member of Music Teachers National Association since 2017.