Hazel Gertrude Kinscella

Hazel Gertrude Kinscella (27 April 1893 — 14 June 1960) was an American musicologist, composer, and teacher. She was a well-known writer of books about music, particularly the history of American music, and was the originator of the Kinscella method of teaching piano in public schools, on which she lectured and demonstrated extensively.

Life Hazel Gertrude Kinscella was born in 1893 in Nora Springs, Iowa, where she obtained her primary and secondary education. In 1912 and 1913 she studied piano with Rafael Joseffy in New York City. Kinscella received degrees in music from the University School of Music in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1916 and 1928. She obtained a BFA from the University of Nebraska, an AM from Columbia University, and a PhD from the University of Washington in 1941. She worked as an instructor in piano at the University School of Music, Lincoln, Nebraska; professor of music at the University of Nebraska; and lecturer on American music at the University of Washington.

Kinscella originated what became known as the Kinscella method of piano teaching in public schools, still used today. She lectured and demonstrated the system extensively in the US and abroad.

She composed and arranged many works, including the Steps for the Young Pianist series (1919-1926),Velocity Studies for the Young Pianist (1924), In Chinatown (1934), Psalm 150, Our Prayer (1934), Folk Tune Trios (1934), and Liberty’s Island (1946). She also wrote the Music Appreciation Readers (six books) between 1926 and 1927, as well as more than sixty professional articles.

Kinscella was a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild, the Writers Guild of America, the Nebraskana Society, Phi Beta Kappa, the Nebraska State Teachers Association, and the Presbyterian Church.

Kinscella died in Seattle, Washington on 14 June 1960.