Meet Leila Viss | Pianist and Piano Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leila Viss and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leila, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I grew up in a small college town in Northwest Iowa called Sioux Center. My parents were both professors at the Christian college, my dad taught math and my mom taught art. The community was and still is saturated with musicians and so I did like pretty much everyone else and started piano and violin lessons in first grade. Defaulting to a music major with an emphasis in piano and organ seemed like the best option for an undergraduate degree. While in college, I met my husband of 35 years. We moved to Denver for his job and it seemed the simplest path for me to continue my education. The decision came easy when I realized that I could get a degree in piano pedagogy–how to teach piano. I had no idea I could earn a master’s degree in teaching piano-something I liked to do! That decision greatly impacted the direction of my career and life here in the Denver area.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a teacher of piano, I always felt a calling to be a little different from what most traditional piano teachers offer. I didn’t just want to teach music written by European dead guys and I really wanted my students to find their creative voice at the keys. As I worked to help my students to make friends with their creativity, I became interested in the process myself. So now I arrange and sell mostly sacred tunes and also write original compositions. “Angel 94” is an original piece that particularly stands out because writing it gave my emotions a place to land. I wrote it about two months after our 26-year-old son Carter was struck by a boat while snorkeling in Florida. He lost his right arm and almost both legs. “Angel 94” reflects on the story of the horrific Thanksgiving Day accident. Suddenly, music making was not only my profession and my hobby, it became my therapy.
Carter is now walking, running, snorkeling, and also playing piano with one hand. He is working with the driver of the boat to change dive flag laws.
I had such strong feelings about how important–essential– it is for musicians to tap into their own creativity beyond the music written by other composers that I am now holding 8+8 Composiums. These are online workshops for 8 teachers where they compose 8 bars of music at a time. My intention is that if teachers learn the skills required to compose they will feel equipped to pass them along to their students.
In essence, I hope that my work will have ripple effects. I want others to unlock their musical imaginations and experience the healing power of making music.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
1. Walk and/or bike on the Highline Canal trail just down the road from our home. 2. Grabbing an IPA at Denver Brewing Company.
3. Recently discovered Postino Wine Cafe–yummy Charcuterie boards.
4. Any of the mountain trails–Chicago Lake, Hahns Peak
5. Our friend’s backyard enjoying pizza from his pizza oven.
6. Seeing Toto at Hudson Gardens is one of my all-time favorite concerts–love that venue.

PS Since Covid and the accident, we don’t go out much 😉

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
1. My husband Chuck deserves credit for supporting my decision to earn a graduate degree and the eventual success of my home piano studio. Soon after I opened my doors, we had three boys in about four years. Because of his flexible schedule, my husband would go to work at 6 AM, come home at 3 PM and I’d pass off the kids to him so I could head downstairs and begin teaching in a 4th bedroom that I turned into a studio. Our team parenting allowed both of us to continue our careers and balance raising a family.

2. South Suburban Church hired me as their full-time organist, accompanist, and pianist over 20 years ago. Because of that position, I had a weekly commitment that helped me to develop as a professional musician far beyond what I could have imagined.

3. About 10 years ago, jazz educator and author Bradley Sowash and I connected at a music teaching conference. I was curious about how to get creative and encourage students to explore their own creativity beyond the page and he became a mentor and friend. We ended up co-founding 88 Creative Keys and for six years we offered workshops and webinars to help fellow piano teachers improvise and compose.

Website: https://www.leilaviss.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilaviss/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/88pianokeys/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCFQnXvGvdez0cagHiElWQg

Other: Carter’s website: https://floridafishboyz.org/

Image Credits
Nicole Dina Photography