Fort Worth piano teacher Sara Doan now has her name on the wall of the historic Steinway & Sons factory in New York City. She is one of 67 instructors recently inducted into the company’s teacher hall of fame.
Doan has played for 37 years, taught for 21 and has taken students as young as three and as old as 78 under her tutelage.
“She’s an incredible force of nature,” her husband and nominator, Thomas Ragozzino, said. “She’d never seek this for herself to begin with, but every year she strives to do the absolute best for every single student that is within her circle of influence.”
The Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame recognizes educators with “outstanding instruction and leadership in acoustic piano education and their commitment to teaching in their community for over a decade.”
Ragozzino is a piano consultant at the Steinway Piano Gallery in Fort Worth, but has no role in selecting honorees from the national pool of candidates. He first nominated Doan in 2019.
“I don’t like to brag about myself,” Doan said. “But if I think about it, I’m actually really proud of my studio. … It’s something that I built on my own, and it’s cool to be recognized.”
Doan began her doctoral program in music performance and pedagogy at Texas Christian University, thinking that she would like to become a professor and teach at the collegiate level. She completed her studies but realized her real dream was to open a piano studio of her own.
“I have a really good connection with kids, and I feel like I can teach them a lot of life lessons,” she said. “Since I have my own studio, I can basically do whatever I want. … I’m not your typical, ‘We’re doing this this way (instructor).’ I like to have fun.”
At this year’s holiday studio party, she hosted a family open-mic night for the first time. In addition to a classical spring recital, Doan arranges an annual fall jazz gala where students perform alongside a professional bassist, guitarist and drummer. To incentivize students to keep up with practice outside of lessons, she created a challenge; those who practice 100 times throughout the spring semester are awarded with a party at a surprise location, such as a bowling alley or rock climbing gym.
“It’s not like she found this magic sauce recipe and she’s just slinging the sauce,” Raggozino said. “(She’s) continually doing something new, something different, something extra.”
Doan tailors the focus of her lessons to the goals of the students.
Victoria Nigh, now a high school senior, started taking lessons with “Miss Sara” at the beginning of second grade. Nigh called Doan nourishing, kind, equipped with a good ear and willing to hold her students accountable to their goals.
“The biggest thing is she’s helped me develop my own musicality. And it’s not just like she tells me like, ‘Here you should get louder’ or ‘Here’s where you need to be really quiet,’” Nigh said. “She does a little bit of that, but mostly, it’s like, ‘What do you believe is the most important part in this piece?’ … She’s taught me and equipped me with so many skills to put my own musicality in the music.”
Next year, Nigh plans to attend college in Nashville and major in music industry studies. Even though she doesn’t plan on performing professionally, playing the piano is a muscle she wants to continue to develop.
Doan has another student who is now a music therapist and several students who compete — and win — in piano competitions, but she doesn’t try to push any of her students into majoring in music.
“For me, it’s like our students are part of our family,” Doan said. “I want them to love music … but what’s most important is that they are good people.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.