Ashley Wilson Piano Studio

10/07/2026

30 pieces!! 🎉👏

Rowan officially completed the 30-Piece Challenge! Lots of consistency and hard work went into learning so much music. Way to go!

09/30/2026

Save the date! Students are already getting excited about their recital pieces, and I'm looking forward to December!

09/25/2026

A wonderful local music event to put on your calendar!

Emmanuel Episcopal Church has graciously welcomed our studio for recitals, and I’d love to see our studio community support them in return.

On Friday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m., Dr. Benji Stegner will present a free organ recital, All Creatures, featuring music inspired by St. Francis of Assisi and animals. The evening will also highlight the work of Sweet Olive Farm Animal Rescue.

If you’ve never had the chance to hear the organ at Emmanuel, this would be a lovely opportunity—and admission is free. I hope some of our studio families can make it!

08/27/2026

As we mourn the loss of American icon, singer/songwriter, philanthropist, and all-around fantastic person, Dolly Parton, let us also remember that at one point Dolly was just a kid in a music class.

Thank you for the countless ways you gave back to educational music programs in Tennessee, to kids all over the country through mailbox book programs, and through your expansive music career.

Thank you, Dolly.

08/26/2026

The school year has just begun, but festival season is already on its way!

Sam, pictured here, is preparing for his very first AMTA Sonata and Sonatina Festival in October! He and the other participating students have already been wowing me with their preparation!

The festival will be the first of several opportunities throughout the year for students to perform outside of the studio through adjudicated, non-competitive festivals and community recitals.

These events give students:

🎹 a meaningful and challenging goal to work toward

🎹 thoughtful, constructive feedback from master teachers from around the state

🎹 experience preparing music to a high standard

🎹 opportunities to interact with and hear peers from outside the studio

🎹 a chance to build comfort and confidence sharing their music beyond their regular lessons and studio recitals

I’m excited to see where their music takes them this year!

08/12/2026

Equal Measures grew out of a simple goal: I wanted students to hear more music, especially music by women and other historically underrepresented composers, and I wanted to give them practical tools for engaging with music they haven't heard before.

The project works on both a large and small scale. On the larger scale, this year’s group classes will use Equal Measures as a kind of piano-history curriculum as we move through different eras, styles, composers, and instruments. On the smaller scale, short listening prompts, comparisons, improvisation ideas, and other “micro-activities” can be done within individual lessons and modified for different age groups.

The activities are built around the ways students already listen, describe, compare, imagine, and experiment in lessons. I wrote a little more about the ideas behind the project, how it has developed, and what I hope students will gain from it this year. You can read the full post here:

Many of this year’s Saturday group classes will feature a new theme! Each class will include activities from Equal Measures, a piano history and listening project I’ve been developing for my students for over two years now. When I began making a conscious effort to represent an equal number of m...

07/23/2026

I invested in the complete Sound Shapes magnetic music notation system for the studio this spring, and it has become part of nearly every lesson!

Students have really enjoyed the hands-on approach, and the materials are adaptable for different ages and levels. We’ve used them for both foundational musical concepts with beginners and more advanced work with older students--and everything else in-between. It has been such a cool and useful addition to our work!

06/15/2026

Equal Measures is a composer listening and discovery project I’ve been building for the studio for over a year now. The goal is to make diversity an inherent part of how we listen to, learn, and talk about music. More than half of the composers students can choose to explore are women, woven in alongside the familiar names they’ll continue to meet.

Here's a snapshot of a few of the composers students have chosen for their summer projects:

🎹Hélène de Montgeroult

Beethoven is often credited for bridging the Classical and Romantic eras, but de Montgeroult belongs in that conversation, too. Her études showcase the elegance of Classical piano merged with broader and more expressive Romantic sounds.

🎹Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre

She was famous as a child at the court of Louis XIV and went on to write bold and virtuosic music for harpsichord. Her pieces are a wonderful doorway into the drama and sparkle of French Baroque music.

🎹Marie Jaëll

A late Romantic pianist, composer, and teacher, Jaëll was fascinated by what actually happens when a pianist touches the keys. Her music and teaching invite students to think about sound as a combination of physical awareness and imagination.

05/28/2026

For the record, this is who keeps saying, “Smaller sections. Better repetitions.” 😉

05/13/2026

This summer has an exciting lineup of group learning opportunities! 🎹☀️

In June, we’ll begin with a Path to Songwriting series, where students will build creative tools and music theory foundation for shaping their own musical ideas.

In July, group lessons will include sharing a work in progress (a great early performance experience for students who plan to perform at the Sonata and Sonatina Festival in October), improvisation games, and a student composition showcase.

All summer long, our music history focus will connect with my Equal Measures project, which highlights a wide range of composers and stories from piano history, with special attention to giving historical women composers equal emphasis.

These group lessons are open to current studio students and may be used as make-up lessons or attended as bonus summer enrichment. Registration will open soon!