About Kellis

Kellis Dryer has been teaching piano students of various ages and levels since 1988. She opened Dryer Music School in February 2009 after moving to Cary, NC. Kellis has maintained a studio of over forty students and has taught piano, music theory, and music appreciation courses at the college level. She enjoys teaching beginning students all the way through advanced students who are studying major concert repertoire. Several of Kellis' students have gone on to major in music and have become successful piano teachers and performers.

As a result of her distinguished work as a piano pedagogue, along with her knowledge of historical performance practices, she is much in demand as a teacher, performer, clinician, mentor, and adjudicator. Kellis holds a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy with a minor in Harpsichord from Illinois Wesleyan University and completed her Master's coursework in Musicology at Ohio University. She studied piano with celebrated master teachers R. Bedford Watkins and Thomas Hecht.

Although Kellis plays and teaches many types of music, she especially enjoys playing music composed by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin. Kellis has an academic interest and fondness for Baroque performance practices, particularly in the music of J.S. Bach. She enjoys playing Baroque and Renaissance music on clavichord and harpsichord.

Kellis is an active member of Music Teachers National Association, North Carolina Music Teachers Association, Raleigh Piano Teachers Association (RPTA), The American College of Musicians/ The National Guild of Piano Teachers, and The Boston Clavichord Society. She serves as an adjudicator for The National Piano Guild Auditions and various competitions and festivals.