Keith Snell composer / arranger

Keith Porter-Snell is a pianist, piano teacher, and writer of educational music for piano students. As a performer, he specializes in piano music written to be played with the left hand alone. Keith appears as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom. Keith teaches beginning through advanced students, and has given over 400 workshops to piano teachers throughout the US and abroad. He has more than 150 titles published by the Kjos Music Company, a leading publisher of educational music. Keith won the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, which provided his London debut in 1984. He subsequently signed with Columbia Artist Management and recorded for Virgin Records.

In 1986, Keith was diagnosed with focal dystonia (a repetitive motion injury) in his right hand. As a result, he found it increasingly difficult to meet the demands of his performance schedule. In 1988 he withdrew from his professional life as a pianist, and re-focused his energies on his teaching career, expanding his independent piano studio and giving master classes throughout the United States. Keith has also taught at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, where he was the Assistant Director of the Young Artist Piano Program. He currently teaches piano at Bath Spa University.

In 1993, Keith started his own company, Academy Records, which specialized in making CD recordings of standard piano teaching music. These CDs were created for piano students and teachers to listen to as models for performance. His creation of this product has influenced and revolutionized piano teaching materials. Keith’s entrepreneurial endeavor with Academy Records led to the invitation from the Neil A. Kjos Music Company to become an editor, author, and composer of educational piano music. His music books and CDs are ranked among the most popular teaching resources on the market today.

Keith is a passionate proponent of piano music for the left hand alone. He returned to the concert stage in 2006 as a left handed pianist, discovering an intensely gratifying new journey of music making. His left hand alone repertoire includes solo works, chamber music, and concertos by 19th and 20th century composers, as well as new music written especially for Keith by Kathleen Ryan and Beverley Flanagan. In the Spring of 2012, Keith made a three week tour of Malaysia and Singapore.

Keith received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Southern California, where he was a student of John Perry. Other studies include work with Maria Clodes Jagauride, Professor of Piano at Boston University.

A native of San Francisco, Keith lives in Bath, England. He maintains a second home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.