Claire Oliver

For Jill Timmons, pianist, professor of music and artist-in-residence at Linfield, the key to career happiness comes through a fine-tuned balance between performance and instruction.
A grant she has received to perform at the Festillésime in France’s Loire Valley this summer will help her passion flourish.
The June 28 event will mark Timmons’ third time participating in the festival, which comprises 25 events and is sponsored by the Conseil Générale of the Loir-et-Cher departmént in France, which is the equivalent of a state government in the
United States.
Timmons, who already spends her summers in the region, will also teach a 10-day piano institute at the Chateau de Talcy, where participants will learn about two-piano playing techniques.
After she received an invitation to hold a concert from the chateau in fall 2008, she said Linfield agreed to pay for her travel costs. She wrote a proposal to the region’s departmént to cover any additional miscellaneous costs.
“It was a juried selection, so it’s a great honor,” she said. “It’s the first time [Chateau de Talcy] has been part of the festival, and I’m excited to play again.”
Timmons said her long-time performance partner, Laura Klugherz, will join her on stage. Timmons and Klugherz, a violinist and professor at Colgate
University in New York, have worked together for more than 25 years.
The pair will perform a blend of French and American pieces for its program, and Linfield community members will have the chance to hear many of its selections in a two-night event to be held May 20 and 21 in Delkin Hall.
Performance opportunities such as this have taken Timmons to a variety of places, ranging from Carnegie Hall in New York to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Chile.
Her piano playing will take her next to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the site of the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” where she will perform as well as work with K-12 students in their music classes.
Timmons said she is expecting a great adventure, because the town is the largest fishing port in the world and is only accessible by a three-hour plane ride from Anchorage.
Despite her trips across the world, she said she considers Linfield “the hub of her wheel.”
Timmons has held the position of artist-in-residence at the college since 1981 and said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“There have been times in my career when I’ve only performed or only [taught], and I always felt incomplete,” she said. “Performing informs my teaching, and I learn something everyday from students. When you work with another person, it’s a co-pilgrimage toward the music of a composer.”
Timmons has instructed students of all ages, but she said she enjoys working with college students most of all, as they are undergoing an important transition between childhood and adulthood when all things are possible and open to exploration.
Students said Timmons’ passion for music has provided them with personal inspiration and has encouraged them to take advantage of opportunities to explore.
“It’s great to be studying with an accomplished artist like Jill,” senior Christine Bronson, who has taken lessons from Timmons for four years, said. “I am often reminded of the joy of performing music by working with [her].”
Bronson said working with Timmons has also carried over to her college life outside of musical
performance.
”I have definitely learned more about how to treat myself as a musician between how I relate to the piano and the music itself,” she said. “She wants her students to succeed in whatever they choose to pursue.”
Timmons said she particularly appreciates Linfield for allowing a variety of pursuits, as she has been able to take advantage of its liberal arts atmosphere, as well.
“My life is not all about the piano,” she said. “[At Linfield] I have developed really important, valuable friendships with people in other disciplines. It’s refreshing to go across campus and have partnerships [with them].”