'Piano Lady' Celebrates 25 Years of Teaching Kids With Anniversary Recital

Caption: Linda Kurtz with her students in 2001, who had chipping in to buy their teacher an awesome piano bench for Christmas.

If you grew up in the Bolingbrook area and took piano lessons, chances are you crossed paths with Linda Kurtz.

Kurtz is marking 25 years of offering private piano instruction in the Bolingbrook community. To celebrate this achievement, she will be holding an anniversary recital -- her 25th annual recital to be exact -- on Sunday, May 3.

The long-time Bolingbrook resident earned a bachelor of arts in music education from Bradley University and a master’s in music from Northern Illinois University. She taught music in public school for eight years and has served as a private piano instructor since 1980.

Her first studio recital in the Bolingbrook area took place in the spring of 1990. Currently Kurtz teaches at her home in Bolingbrook as well as the Southwest Suburban Harmony Project at First Presbyterian Church of DuPage, where she serves as the director.

“I think it’s important for every child to find something they’re good at and gain confidence in themselves. For a lot of kids it’s music,” Kurtz said. “Piano may not be their instrument but they’ll go on to join band or take choir.”

Kurtz fell in love in with the piano growing up in Oregon, IL, watching Joanne Castle on ”The Lawrence Welk Show.” She began bugging her parents to let her take piano lessons, but her family could not afford a piano.

“I’m dating myself,” she laughed. “I kept asking my parents for a piano but we couldn’t afford one, but when I was in fifth grade my father found a way to get a piano. My teacher was one of the few in town that taught piano. Her name was Alice Petersen and I took piano lessons from her for eight years.”

The 25th Anniversary Recital will feature current students as well as many of her studio graduates as part of the “Adopt-An-Alum” program designed by Kurtz. Current students had the opportunity to get to know their adopted alum through emails and interviews, and will be playing a piece learned by their alum during their time as a student.

Over the past 25 years, she has taught hundreds of children how to play the piano. Many of her former students have gone on to pursue careers in music. One is an opera singer in California, another is finished a degree in jazz performance and a few others have gone on to become music teachers. Some of her former students merely play for their own enjoyment.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that I created three levels where students could graduate,” Kurtz said. “I always felt bad if kids decided they were done or got too busy to continue playing. It felt so negative and unfair especially after working really hard for three years. Graduation puts a more positive spin on their music experience.”

The recital starts at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at First Presbyterian Church of DuPage, 180 N. Weber Road, Bolingbrook. Admission is free. For more information, or to inquire about signing up for piano lessons, contact Linda Kurtz at 630-759-8843 or sshpmusic@gmail.com.