‘I can’t think of anything I would rather have done’

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“She has consistently turned out quality musicians from the talent in Dayton and surrounding areas, and she has done it with grace and style,” said her friend, Janet Cooper. “Her students have always competed favorably in solo and concerto competitions in Dayton, Columbus, Fort Wayne, and other major cities.”

Sadly, her piano teaching days have come to an end. Her last student, Angela Lin, performed her Senior Piano Recital at the Kettering Seventh-Day Adventist Church on April 8. She played five selections that included Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Mendelssohn. She earned her 12th consecutive unanimous superior ratings at Festival in piano solo and piano concerto this year.

“The recital went really well. Afterwards, I thanked [Mrs. Wasson], and she told me I did a good job,” said Lin, a National Merit Finalist, and one of five valedictorians at Beavercreek High School. “It meant so much to me being my senior year, and I just know how much music means to her. She brought music to life for me.”

Wasson had taken on a full load of students until just a few months ago, when she became too weak to sit at the piano during lessons. Lin continued to come to the studio located in Wasson’s living room. Lin played, and her teacher would listen from her bedroom, and make comments or suggestions afterward. This was Lin’s 13th year of piano lessons from Wasson. Her older sister, Melissa, also studied with her.

“The skills a student needs to play the piano are the same skills they need to live a productive life. It requires consistent practice, getting it right, and striving always to do better,” said Wasson. “I love watching a student develop those skills.”

Christina Borchers, a 2010 Oakwood graduate, is another student who gained those skills. She studied with Wasson from the seventh through the 12th grades, after seven years with Tanya Seeley.

“Mrs. Wasson instilled the art of music. We never stuck to one specific time period or composer, but mastered a wide variety of styles and interpretations of songs,” said Borchers,who has a bachelor of arts in music from New York University, a masters degree from Johns Hopkins, and is currently a medical student a Wright State University. “By the time her annual spring recital came around, I had the pieces internalized through her complex memorizing techniques.”

Borchers included Wasson’s performance teaching methods in her book, “The Art of Medicine in a Musical World,” published last year and found on Amazon.

Wasson studied music at Vassar College in New York state, and then Chicago Musical College, where she met her future husband, Audley. They owned the Wasson Piano Studio in downtown Dayton from 1946 to 1990. They had two children, Carol and Steven. Carol owned Wasson Music Center in Washington Township, and changed the name to Shaw’s Music Center after her marriage. It was closed shortly after her death in June of 2013. Steven passed away in May of that year.

“I definitely never thought I’d be teaching piano for all these years. I have lived a lot longer than I ever expected to,” said Wasson. “I can’t think of anything I would rather have done than teach piano lessons. It has been a very good life.”