Mary Beth Barteau Shaffer

Mary Beth Barteau Shaffer has performed throughout the United States as a soloist and collaborative musician with numerous artists, including violinists Leopold LaFosse and Robert McDuffie, the Wendt-King cello duo and as duo pianist with Carole Lesniak Thomas. Her Colorado collaborations include recitals with faculty from the University of Denver Lamont School of Music and Colorado College, and with members of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Shaffer has served on the faculties of Grinnell College, The University of Iowa, Northwestern College, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Denver Lamont Summer Academy and Piano Preparatory Program, Rocky Ridge Music Center, and Pikes Peak Community College. She helped found the Lamont Summer Academy in 2007, and recently retired as director of the program in 2017.

Her piano studio has produced many prize-winners in events, including the MTNA Competitions, the  CSMTA, PPMTA, MMTA and IMTA Competitions; the Schubert Club, Thursday Musical and Beethoven Club Auditions; and the CSU-Pueblo Keyboard Arts, Quad Cities Mozart, and Northeast Missouri State Piano Festivals.  Her students have performed with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Des Moines Symphony, the Fort Dodge Symphony, the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra, the Rocky Ridge Chamber Orchestra, and on “From the Top.”  Additionally, her students are very active in non-competitive festivals and community outreach performances.

Ms. Shaffer is also an experienced adjudicator and clinician throughout the United States. Her articles on piano technique have been published in Keyboard Companion magazine. She has held several state and local offices in both the Music Teachers National Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs in Colorado, Minnesota, and Iowa, and is currently the West Central Division Director-Elect of MTNA. In 1994, she was awarded the Master Teacher Certificate by the Music Teachers National Association and was recognized as the 2019 Teacher of the Year by the Colorado State Music Teachers Association.

Ms. Shaffer currently resides in Mesa, Arizona, where she maintains a private teaching and collaborative piano studio.