Recognition & Archives
2025 TMTA Teacher of the Year: Arunesh Nadgir
Praised for his passionate, sensitive, and thoughtful musicianship, pianist Arunesh Nadgir has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. He has performed in venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre, and Jordan Hall, and has participated in several international music festivals including the Millennium International Piano Festival, The Moulin d’ Ande Festival, and the Kneisel Hall Summer Music Festival. He has performed on Nashville Public Radio and WNYC in live radio broadcasts.
An accomplished teacher, Nadgir is the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Professor of Piano at Middle Tennessee State University. He maintains a private piano studio, and in 2024, he joined the faculty of the Kinhaven Music School in Weston, Vermont. He has previously held teaching positions at New England Conservatory's Preparatory and Continuing Education Departments, the Eastman School of Music, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Point CounterPoint Music Camp. His students have been accepted to music festivals and college music programs across the United States and have won top prizes at pre-college and college level music competitions including the University of Rochester Concerto Competition, the MTNA Tennessee Young Artist Piano Competition, and the Tennessee Music Teachers Association Solo Piano Competition.
A sought-after clinician, Nadgir frequently presents master classes, performances, and lectures for university and pre-college programs, music organizations, and private piano studios. A dedicated member of the Music Teachers National Association, he served as the President of the Tennessee Music Teachers Association from 2023-2025 and as chair of the MTNA State President’s Advisory Council from 2024-2025.
Nadgir holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music where he studied under Wha Kyung Byun, Robert McDonald, and Natalya Antonova, respectively.
2025 Distinguished Service Award: Karen Ann Krieger
Karen Ann Krieger was honored with the 2025 “Distinguished Service Award” from the Tennessee
Music Teachers Association, held in Martin, TN. She was also recently given the esteemed title of
Associate Professor Emerita of Piano at Vanderbilt University where she served as collegiate piano
chair at the Blair School of Music.
Prior to joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1988, she was Assistant Professor of Piano at Columbus State
University in Georgia. Krieger also gained recognition as an award-winning television news director,
news and weather anchor, photographer, and producer at TV stations in Columbus, Georgia and
Nashville. Her most memorable experiences include covering Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy
Carter, along with a performance for President Carter and with The Gregg Allman band. Her music
related interviews include Gregg Allman, Emmylou Harris, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Joel, Dr. John, Al
Kooper, Chuck Leavell, Michael McDonald, Mitch Miller, Steve Winwood, and Reese Wynans.
Recognized as a performer, teacher, and pedagogue, Krieger has given more than 100 workshops
and concerts world-wide including British Columbia, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Great Britain, Italy,
Spain, and the former Yugoslavia. She is widely recognized for her presentations, performances, and
leadership at the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy, the World Piano Pedagogy Conference,
and the Music Teachers National Association Conference.
Krieger has performed on both piano and accordion with the Nashville Symphony, on National Public
Radio and, under the auspices of New York’s Columbia Artists and Allied Artists, performed on both
instruments across the United States with saxophonist Neal Ramsey.
She is the author of student solo and duet compositions and books on blues and rock ’n’ roll published
by Alfred and FJH Music. Her Keyboard Harmony textbook, Group Piano: Proficiency in Theory and
Performance, is a 2019 Hal Leonard publication. Krieger’s students have won and placed in local,
state, and national competitions in piano performance and composition and many former students lead
successful university teaching and performing careers.
“Make music, have fun, and remember it’s not about you, it’s about the music—make ‘em listen, and
you can’t go wrong” is Krieger’s oft-repeated mantra. She is a south Chicago native with a twin brother
and credits her teaching success to a well-rounded education at Western Illinois University, where she
earned a BA degree in piano performance with a minor in business, and a MM degree in piano
performance at the University of Illinois.
2025 TMTA/MTNA Foundation Fellow: Jerome Reed
2024 TMTA Teacher of the Year: Lynn Worcester-Jones
2024 Distinguished Service Award: Mark Hussung
2024 TMTA/MTNA Foundation Fellows: Katheryne W. Bauman, Deanne Irvine, Janet Sump
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