Chair of the Music Department and Professor of Music History, Piano and Piano Pedagogy, Dr. Ilka Araújo, recently received the 2022 Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award. The award is a formal recognition of a music educator’s passion, artistry and commitment to students that is awarded to the top educators in their field around the world.

The founder of the Piano Pedagogy award and a booster of the piano program at Texas Wesleyan University, Dr. Araújo has had a performing and teaching career that spreads across four continents. Ranging from performing at local piano festivals to international solo, collaborative and concerto competitions, her students have won multiple prizes over the past 20 years.

Knowledgeable in the many different schools — Russian, German, French, English and American — Dr. Araújo's magic touch allows every student to explore their natural potential and expand it to previous unimaginable levels simply by giving them individual recipes with the exact dose of technique, style concept, critical thinking, exposure, literature and most importantly, self-confidence.

Her pedagogy students also get to explore all the different schools of thought, learn about all different methods available and enrich their literature comprehension with as much hands-on experience as possible.

Her love and passion for teaching, devotion to her students, as well as the belief that there is always a place for everyone when given a chance, have made her one of the most sought-after piano teachers in the DFW area.

Dr. Araújo is humbled, honored and appreciative of Thomas Ragozzino at Steinway & Sons Gallery in Fort Worth for nominating her to the New York Steinway factory who awarded her the prize for the second time. She previously received the award in 2017.