Title: Director and Business Owner
Company: KDS: Integrated Piano Academy LLC
Location: Bradenton, Florida, United States
Heather Suzanne Bissell, director and business owner of KDS: Integrated Piano Academy LLC, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Business Owners for dedication, achievements, and leadership in music education.
For more than 35 years, Ms. Bissell has worked to perfect her ability to teach music and support other teachers in their efforts. Showcasing her piano skills from a young age, she was a finalist in a national-level piano competition and won several other competitions. At only 11 years old, Ms. Bissell began giving piano lessons to other children in the neighborhood, accepting her first paid work as a teacher at 14. In 1993, she became summer piano faculty at the Sebago Music Camp, teaching students from kindergarten through grade 8, followed by becoming a full-time piano teacher covering various cities in southern Maine, including Gorham, Kennebunkport and Portland.
Alongside her educational roles, Ms. Bissell gained early experience in administrative work as the founder of Heathers Kids, a free dance studio in Presque Isle, Maine. In 1998, she opened a private studio, where she spent the next 10 years teaching piano, voice and music lessons to children of all ages. During this time, Ms. Bissell also became a teaching assistant at the Hartt School of Music, where she later became full-time piano faculty. From 2011 to 2021, she served as the piano department chair and Suzuki piano director for the Winchester Community Music School.
Since 2022, Ms. Bissell has operated her own business, KDS: Integrated Piano Academy LLC. Offering one-on-one music lessons and group classes for kids of all ages, she blends several teaching methodologies that she is certified in: the Suzuki instrument training methodology, which aims to create a strong environment for musical education; Dalcroze eurythmics, which teaches students through movement and body-based learning; and the Kodály method, which prioritizes integrating the different elements of music education into a single all-encompassing approach, rather than separating those parts out into discrete courses. As the academy’s director, Ms. Bissell teaches the majority of lessons and hires teachers for a yearly summer piano institute and other expanded efforts. Additionally, she conducts outreach and marketing to continue KDS: Integrated Piano Academy’s growth.
Ms. Bissell’s performance in the field has been backed up by her academic journey, beginning with completing an artist’s diploma program in Hungary. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene with a minor in piano and vocal performance from the University of Southern Maine. Subsequently, Ms. Bissell earned a master’s degree in piano performance and piano pedagogy from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School. Returning to Hungary later in her professional life, she attained a second master’s degree in the Kodály method through the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
Beyond her primary vocation, Ms. Bissell also devoted several years as an assistant manager and head hygienist for periodontist Dr. Michael M. Perl in West Hartford, Connecticut. Having majored in dental hygiene in college, she also contributed as an author to the Journal of Dental Hygiene, the official publication of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.
Though she works hard, Ms. Bissell strives to maintain a balance between her career and her personal life. Her pastimes include practicing meditation, supporting the conservation of parks and natural resources, riding a bike, paddleboarding, kayaking and participating in self-help activities. Building on the success of KDS: Integrated Piano Academy LLC so far, Ms. Bissell’s goals for the future are centered on establishing a commercial space for the school. This major step will include expanding the faculty and providing more advanced teacher training, which she is excited to engage in.
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