Leah Claiborne博士，音乐副教授（钢琴）和键盘研究协调员，获得了音乐教师全国协会颁发的2022年Stecher & Horowitz创新奖。 这个10,000美元的奖项每年颁发给一位年轻的专业艺术家或教师，他们在艺术卓越、教学领导、培育精神和社区服务方面表现出创新和创业精神。

“It is a surprise and honor—there were such incredibly deserving applicants,” said Dr. Claiborne. “What meant the most was knowing I am working alongside important leaders, but my work was chosen as the inaugural recipient.”

克莱本博士教授非裔美国人音乐史。 她还专注于在表演和研究中使用黑人作曲家。 她是《美国音乐教师》杂志的专栏作家，也是弗朗西斯·克拉克中心/全国键盘教学会议的主任。

她从小就学习巴赫、贝多芬和勃拉姆斯。 “I remember always sitting at a piano trying to pluck out notes,” she said. “I listened to my Dad’s jazz records. 我最喜欢的专辑是Nina Simone的，我想成为像她那样的钢琴家、艺术家和变革推动者。 My father started me off with classical music, which was love at first sight.”

她曾在美国、德国、意大利、捷克和日本等地演出，是一名备受欢迎的国家级钢琴比赛评委和临床医生。 Yet, the award-winning musician says she has struggled with “always being the only Black person performing and competing on concert stages.”

“This lack of representation was highlighted once I decided to major in piano performance at Manhattan School of Music and University of Michigan,” she said.

克莱本博士在研究生院修了一门教育学课程，很快意识到她从来没有研究过黑人作曲家的作品。

“When I started researching piano music by Black composers, I became committed to performing their music and bringing awareness of their significant contributions. I want to ensure that students at all levels of their musical studies know that they were and are creating music for them,” she said. “I want to make sure that a student like myself never has to go through 20+ years of music education without ever knowing about music by Black composers.”

她在2019年的ProMusics国际音乐比赛中被评为Merlet神父奖，以表彰她卓越的表现和对社会服务的无与伦比的承诺。 2017年，克莱本成为第一位获得密歇根大学拉克姆·普莱多克奖学金的钢琴家。 这使她能够进一步研究汇编、编辑和录制黑人作曲家的钢琴音乐。 2016年，她在全国黑人音乐家协会全国钢琴比赛中获得最高奖。

她在曼哈顿音乐学院获得本科学位，在密歇根大学获得音乐硕士学位和音乐艺术博士学位。 她指出，她总是赞扬那些接受钢琴表演挑战的学生。 Even though the audience applauds for the music they’ve heard, she praises the daily efforts, setbacks, devotion, and sacrifices it took to get her students to that point.

“I have always felt that piano performance is the most honest work,” she said. “It takes guts to walk out on stage. 你可能正在演奏一种你一生中从未接触过的乐器。 你分享自己最脆弱和最亲密的部分，希望与你的听众建立联系。 这是一项诚实的工作，因为每个钢琴家在演奏时都有独特的见证。 Each day of preparation builds and molds the person’s character, confidence and commitment. In those short moments on stage, we have the opportunity to share just a snapshot of the long efforts it took to get to that performance.”

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