Drucilla Engel, pianist and teacher in Orlando, Florida, began her musical training at the age of two (!), performed her first recital at age three, and has been studying, performing and teaching ever since.  In her work with students during the past 30 years, it became more and more apparent that knowledge in the area of physical awareness at the piano was a necessity.  After participating in the first Biology of Music Making Conference in Denver, Drucilla continued her studies, working with Rosalina Sackstein (student of Claudio Arrau), Barbara Lister-Sink (pioneer in the field of injury-preventive piano technique and producer of the video Freeing the Caged Bird) and later attending the Taubman Institute.

Ms. Engel is a member of the Music Teacher’s National Association, Florida State Music Teacher’s Association, Central Florida Music Teachers Association, National Guild of Piano Teachers, and the American College of Musicians.  Certified by several of these organizations, she has held many offices within them, and continues to support them by regularly preparing and adjudicating students for sponsored competitions and evaluations. Drucilla has performed in the South and Eastern United States, giving both concerts and lecture/recitals, as well as conducting master classes for students.  In 1995 she was invited to be a guest artist at the Mississippi Piano Showcase, working privately and in master classes with high school pianists from throughout the South as well as presenting several workshops for teachers.        

Ms. Engel attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she received both her High School diploma and the Bachelor of Music degree.  She continued her studies at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, where she obtained her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance.  While working on her MM degree, she taught at Salem College, both in the pre-college and college departments.  Upon completion of her degree, Ms. Engel returned to Orlando, joining the faculty of the Engel School of Music, her mother’s private music school, where she taught piano and theory/musicianship classes, and conducted master classes.  She purchased the school from her mother in 1984, and continued to operate it from its location in the Lake Cherokee Historic District, until 1999.  To date, she continues its operation, though on a much smaller scale.