Lesley McAllister, D.M.A., is an internationally recognized expert in piano pedagogy and musician wellness whose work bridges traditional teaching with somatic awareness and wellness practices. She is Professor of Piano and Director of Piano Pedagogy at Baylor University. In addition to teaching piano pedagogy, she also teaches courses on performer wellness and directs the Piano Laboratory Program for children in the community.

 

Dr. McAllister holds degrees in performance from the University of Houston and Florida State University, studying with Nancy Weems and Leonard Mastrogiacomo, as well as a DMA in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied with Jane Magrath. Her research interests include imagery, mind-body relaxation techniques for performance anxiety, mental rehearsal, and yoga for musicians. Through her writing, research, and workshops, McAllister advocates for approaches that not only support musical excellence but also student wellbeing and lifelong engagement with music.

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Dr. McAllister is the author of two books on musician wellness: The Balanced Musician: Integrating Mind and Body for Peak Performance (Scarecrow Press, 2012) and Yoga in the Music Studio (Oxford Press, 2020), both of which highlight her commitment to holistic music pedagogy. Her widely published articles appear in leading journals such as American Music Teacher, Piano Magazine, Piano Pedagogy Forum, and the MTNA E-Journal. McAllister has also served as co-investigator with the Mind Body Medicine Institute at Baylor and co-authored an article in Frontiers in Psychology. She has twice received the “Article of the Year" award by the Music Teachers National Association for her publications in American Music Teacher: in 2012 for “Should Music Be Fun?” and in 2023 for “The Language of Awareness: How Breath Work and Cueing Impact the Music Lesson.” 

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Dr. McAllister’s presentations at national and international conferences cover a range of innovative topics, such as mindful movement in early music education, teaching twice-exceptional (2E) students, and the physiology of piano performance. These include presentations at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) conference, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy (GP3) Forum, and College Music Society, as well as international conferences of the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) symposium, European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA), and the International Society of Music Educators (ISME). From performance anxiety to active learning methods, her sessions offer practical, research-informed strategies for today’s pianists and teachers. 

 

Previously the inaugural chair of the editorial board for the MTNA E-Journal, Dr. McAllister is a certified RYT-200 yoga instructor and currently serves as the Wellness Column Editor for Piano Magazine. Beginning in June 2024, she is serving a two-year term as President-Elect of the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA), which honored her with the Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award in 2022. In 2019, she was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award in Research for Tenured Professors at Baylor University; she also received a Centennial Professor Award in 2021 and was a 2023-24 Baylor Teaching Fellow. In 2023, she received the Outstanding Service Award from the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. Dr. McAllister is currently serving a three-year term as Faculty Regent which will conclude in May 2025. She currently serves as the Faculty-in-Residence at the all-female Collins Hall, where she lives with her husband Scott and two children, Cooper and Camden.