Rate My Professor Lesley McAllister

McAllister's research focuses on imagery, mind-body relaxation techniques for performance anxiety, mental rehearsal, yoga for musicians, and approaches supporting musical excellence, student wellbeing, and lifelong music engagement. She authored The Balanced Musician: Integrating Mind and Body for Peak Performance (Scarecrow Press, 2012) and Yoga in the Music Studio (Oxford University Press, 2020). Key articles include “Should Music Be Fun?” (American Music Teacher, 2012) and “The Language of Awareness: How Breath Work and Cueing Impact the Music Lesson” (American Music Teacher, 2023), both earning MTNA Article of the Year awards. Other publications appear in Piano Magazine, Piano Pedagogy Forum, MTNA E-Journal, and Frontiers in Psychology. Her honors encompass Baylor Centennial Professor (2021, $5,000 funding for a yoga-integrated piano method book), Outstanding Tenured Faculty Award in Research (Baylor, 2019), Collegiate Teacher of the Year (TMTA, 2022), Outstanding Service Award (Frances Clark Center, 2023), and Baylor Teaching Fellow (2023-24). McAllister presents at conferences including MTNA, NCKP, GP3, CMS, PAMA, EPTA, and ISME; serves as President-Elect of TMTA (2024 term), inaugural chair of MTNA E-Journal editorial board, and Wellness Column Editor for Piano Magazine; and collaborates as co-investigator with Baylor’s Mind Body Medicine Institute.