Deon Nielsen Price

Deon Nielsen Price (born May 16, 1934) is an American collaborative pianist, classical composer, educator and writer. Her book Accompanying Skills for Pianists is noted for outlining the foundational concepts for pianists new to collaborative piano.

Biography Price was born on May 16, 1934, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. She began signing as a child and performed as a vocal soloist from kindergarten. She was awarded the San Francisco Bay Area Bank of America Achievement Award in Fine Arts when she graduated from high school.

Price studied a Bachelor of Arts at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah; a Master of Music at the University of Michigan (UMich) in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California. She studied piano with Gwendolyn Koldofsky and composition with Leslie Bassett and Samuel Adler.

As a solo and collaborative pianist, Price has performed in the continental United States, South America, Asia and Europe. and designated the common accompaniment types as chordal, rhythmic, characteristic and orchestral-type. It became a required text in many American musical faculties.

Price served on the board of directors and as president of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), was an officer of the Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Fraternity (MPE), and is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Select compositions

Augury (1980, Alto Saxophone, Violin, and Piano) Dancing on the Brink of the World

Personal life Price is the mother of five children. Her son Berkeley became a clarinetist and they perform on tour together as the Price Duo.