Nancy O'Neill Breth teaches piano and chamber music to students of all ages in the Washington, DC metro area. Nancy collaborates with teachers at home and throughout the country. She’s headlined a number of state MTA conferences, and 2020 marked her fifth appearance as a presenter at MTNA’s national conference, as a clinician in Pedagogy Saturday and again as a lecturer later in the week.

Her latest projects for teachers and students are Effective Practicing, a collection of short You Tube videos for pianists, and a clickable list of Modern Piano Music.

Nancy worked as a collaborative pianist and arts presenter in the United States, Latin America and Asia. The Washington Post praised her “superb musicianship”, calling her Music Connection concert series “brilliant” and “imaginative”. The Mexico City News wrote that Breth’s Camerata de Mexico “offers the best chamber music in Mexico.” In New York City Nancy was producer/director of a children’s opera by Michael Colgrass, and built an acclaimed chamber music program for the children of Roosevelt Island.  

Nancy is proud that some of her students have been successful in competitions, even up to the national level: it’s exciting to have students appear on NPR’s “From the Top”, win MTNA’s national Piano Duet competition, and even become professional musicians. But her primary goal is still to help all music-loving students build the skills they need to become lifelong pianists.

Nancy taught piano, chamber music and pedagogy for many years at the Levine School of Music in Washington. She has written for American Music Teacher, Keyboard Companion and Clavier Magazine. Her book, Practicing the Piano, two Guides on Effective Practicing and a chamber music collection for early level piano trio, have sold over 50,000 copies worldwide. They are published by Hal Leonard.