Spokane, WA – We at MusicFest Northwest (MFNW) are honored to continue our Alumni History Initiative series with the testimonial of one of our long-time adjudicators, the renowned pianist and educator Nancy O’Neill Breth. Born and raised in Spokane, Nancy now teaches in the Washington, D.C. area, and has been a visiting artist for MFNW several times in the past. We are lucky to count her among our alumni. Nancy participated in the festival beginning in ninth grade from 1956-1960, and we hope her thoughts will inspire you and your students’ practice and performance.  

 

ON MUSICFEST AND ITS IMPACT 

Nancy credits Dr. Bela B. Nagy as a pivotal influence during her final two years at MusicFest Northwest. Alongside the enduring guidance of her teacher, the esteemed Margaret Saunders (Margie May) Ott, his insightful feedback played a key role in her decision to pursue music at Indiana University. One particular lesson from Dr. Nagy has stayed with her over the years—a moment that shaped her understanding of musical precision and interpretation. 

Reflecting on an early performance of Bach’s Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue, she recalls: 

I must have had some difficulty in the fugue…blessedly, I don’t remember what that difficulty was. But I do remember what he said about it: It seemed to him that my tempo was slightly under what I had intended. He spoke to me, and perhaps to the class at large, as to the importance of exactly nailing the tempo and the pulse–especially when playing Bach. He spoke of the intensity of the pulse experience inside of us and how it can be skewed if we are even a little bit off.

This insight, along with the mentorship she received, left a lasting imprint on her musical journey, reinforcing the discipline and artistry that would carry her forward in her studies and career. 

As her career progressed, Nancy carried MusicFest Northwest’s unique system of direct adjudicator-to-student feedback to the East Coast, incorporating it into the Modern Piano Music Celebration within the Washington Music Teachers’ Association. Throughout our interview, it was clear that her passion for direct mentorship and open communication became a defining aspect of her teaching philosophy—one we’ll explore further later on. Her story is a testament to how MusicFest fosters meaningful connections and communities, shaping musicians in ways that extend far beyond the festival itself. 

I love the event, the colleagues I’ve gotten to know there. Some of the people at MusicFest have become lifelong friends. This kind of event run by citizens volunteering their time…it just doesn’t happen anywhere else. I respect that enormously. The concept of the adjudicators interacting with the students is incredibly important.

When we asked Nancy for any other MusicFest memories, she recounted a particularly insightful class from the festival’s earlier days, when MFNW was still called The Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival. This experience, she believes, holds a valuable lesson for today’s musicians: 

I remember from one of those sessions, it was a quick study session. We are given the music 4pm one afternoon, and had to perform it at 3pm the next day. It was really interesting and fun to do. You get into it, you practice what you can, you show up the next day and play it, and you use the music. Didn’t have to be memorized, thank goodness. I played the piece, it happened to end in an exciting flurry of notes and a high chord at the end, and I got to the end and I blew the chord. Of course, I was very sorry about that. When it came time to announce the winner, the adjudicator named me. And there was an unpleasant silence in the room. The adjudicator explained that a mistake is not the essence of a performance, but that my performance was the most musical. Not many people can relate to this because, in the meantime, performance standards have become nearly perfect because of the prevalence of recording, the internet, and so on. Not a lot of people understand the amount of mistakes professionals make. The difference is they know how to handle them, they know how to go on with life, they know how to still make music beautiful.

Nancy’s story is a powerful reminder that musicality extends beyond technical perfection. While accuracy is undeniably important, true artistry lies in expression, resilience, and the ability to create something meaningful—even in the face of imperfection. We are deeply grateful for her insight, which speaks to the heart of what it means to be not just a skilled pianist, but a true musician. 

 

ON HER CAREER 

Following her years in the Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival and consequent music study, Nancy went on to become a prolific instructor and presenter in the Washington DC Metro Area. She also created the Modern Piano Music List as a repertoire resource for young musicians, as well as the Modern Piano Music Celebration: a festival which aims to involve performers in works that are lesser known in early education. Nancy on the Music Celebration: 

You can play any piece you want, within the time limit, as long as the composer was born in 1905 or later. This date was picked so we could leave off the giants; you couldn’t play Bartok, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky.

When asked about her teaching philosophy, Nancy emphasized the importance of a teacher’s focus and dedication to each student’s unique experience. She also spoke on her view of the performer as a historical interpreter: 

…There is a concept of integrity in every profession that seems to be very important. Since we’re in the process of recreating something someone else has created, integrity which means fealty to the score and absolute devotion to whatever instructions we have from the composer is incredibly important. That has a great deal to do with my approach. I don’t differ from any teacher who has spent most of their life doing it; the discipline of it and the beauty of it are the two different branches that are really important. The idea that students, especially young people, are devoted to something so extraneous from their everyday life. 

 As the teacher you often don’t know the influence you leave behind. I had no desire to be a teacher when I was Margie Ott’s student, I just wanted to be her. She was a person of enormous intellectual curiosity and a great musician; she paid attention every instant…I wanted to take that into my life as a performer. When I started teaching, I had no idea what to do. When I was in training, we didn’t have the whole world of pedagogy that has grown since that time, so I figured I’ll just do what they did with me. Which wasn’t such a great idea, because when you are a beginning teacher, you will probably have students who are not all that much like you, and you need to learn how to teach in ways that are more usable to the general public. As a teacher, you should always keep learning yourself, never stop that. Give yourself fully in that amount of time to the student 150%. When things aren’t going so well in the world, it’s a great gift to have that because there’s no way to give a lesson, at least in my view, without being completely involved in the process.

We are incredibly honored to count such a thoughtful educator among our alumni and visiting artists. We hope her insights inspire our readers in their own practice and teaching! 

 

ON MUSIC IN HER LIFE 

To conclude our interview we asked Nancy a rather broad yet invaluable question: Why did you go into music?  She credited her deep dedication to the craft to many influences, including her teachers (Dr. Ott and Dr. Nagy) as well as experiences at MusicFest and other festivals. Reflecting on the powerful impact of mentorship and music’s deep resonance, she shared:  

If you have great teachers you can’t help but be surrounded by and completely taken over by something like music, because it’s so powerful and has such deep resonance within a person. It captures your emotion, your ear, and your brain; it’s such a deep topic of learning.

MusicFest sincerely hopes that all our students have a formative experience. Our mission is always to provide a space where students can learn, grow, and connect with their peers. We are incredibly grateful to Nancy for returning to MusicFest every few years to share her wisdom and experience directly with our students—especially as an alumna herself. Ready to start your own MusicFest journey? Register by February 28th!