Piano duo to perform for Music Study Club

Pianists from Tuscaloosa will perform a program of piano duets at the first meeting of the Demopolis Music Study Club Wednesday, Oct. 9. The meeting, free and open to the public, will feature Syble Coats and Lillian Roberts, both affiliated with Shelton State Community College. The program will be held in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church. Refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall at 3:30 p.m., with the program beginning at 4 p.m. Coats was a faculty member at Shelton State for 38 years until her retirement in 2014.  From 2009-2014 she was the Fine Arts Department Chair.  In 2010 she was named “Teacher of the Year” by the Alabama Music Teachers Association. During 2005 she received the Dr. John Todd Award for exceptional achievement in teaching and the Druid Arts Award as “Music Educator of the Year.” In addition to her demanding teaching and performing schedule, she served several terms as an Executive Board Member of the Alabama Music Teachers Association and as president of the West Alabama Teachers Association. Coats is an enthusiastic and successful advocate of the arts. She was, for many years, organist at Forest Lake United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa. Her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees are from the University of Alabama, where she was a student of Professor Amanda Pencik. Roberts, accepted the position as faculty member at Shelton State after Coats retired in 2014.  She teaches Private Piano, Class Piano and Music Appreciation to music majors and the entire campus community.  In addition to her teaching, she accompanies the Shelton Singers and the Bach to Rock Ensemble. Her Master of Music degree is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She studied private piano with Dr. William Heiles and Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Reid Alexander.  Roberts earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Samford University, where she studied piano with Dr. Kathryn Fouse and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Her students have won awards and superior ratings in events sponsored by the Alabama Music Teachers Association and the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs.  She also serves as Treasurer and as the District Auditions Coordinator for the West Alabama Music Teachers Association