History of the Rochester Area Keyboard Club

It was in a Rochester restaurant, on a 20 degree below-zero, Minnesota winter evening, in 1967 that the Rochester Keyboard Club began with only a handful of members.

Marguerite Hoffman was the founder, organized the club, and served as it's first president. Diane Hoffman served as the first vice president, and Diane Toogood as the first secretary-treasurer.

Meetings were held at Bach Music Company in downtown Rochester to discuss how to promote excellence in music teaching and to provide support to each other.

The new group began sponsoring workshops given by clinicians such as Leo Podolsky, Lili Kraus, and Joan Last.

The Junior College in Rochester gave college credit for workshops meeting their criteria. Such events attracted many additional highly qualified teachers in southeastern Minnesota and promoted rapid growth.

Written by Dawn Riley (excerpt from her cookbook Keys to Good Eating, p. 3)

Due to these visionary women, our organization has grown to over 65 members in 2008.