Dr. John Dennis "Jd" Kelly

Dr. John Dennis “JD” Kelly, 89, of Jonesboro, died Thursday, December 16, 2021, at NEA Baptist Hospital.  He was born in Lindsborg, Kansas on August 15, 1932, to parents Dwight and Helen Johanna Mathilda Anderson Kelly.  He grew up in central Kansas, graduating from Salina, Kansas High School, in 1950.  He was to be their only child.

Following this, he attended the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in 1954.  After graduating he entered the United States Army where he served in the 48 ^th and 49 ^th Army Bands in Europe.

After his discharge from the military, he taught piano for one year at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, before entering Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where in 1959 he earned a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance.  Another year at the Kansas City Conservatory before accepting a similar position at Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky.  After five years, he moved to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  In 1970, he entered the University of Kansas City Conservatory of Music where in 1974 he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance.  He then taught at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania before coming to Arkansas State University in 1975, where he remained until his retirement in 1998.  He retired as professor Emeritus – Piano. He was the coordinator of keyboard activities for twenty-three years. His piano teachers read like a “Who’s Who” of the most famous and influential teachers of the 20 ^th century.  They include, Edith Blundon, Wiktor Labunski, Gyorgy Sandor, Rosina Lhevinne and Joanne Baker.  He also studied the harpsichord with Liselotte Brandle in Salzburg, Austria, in 1955.  During the years, 1965 to 1969, he studied at the Aspen Music School, Aspen Colorado, and in New York City.

He had an active career as a solo performer, and a collaborative pianist. He toured for three years with Affiliate Artist Kay Griffel and has served as pianist for Margared Kallil and Elena Nikolaidi.  There have also been numerous performances as soloist with orchestras. In November 2021, he went to New York, and was inducted into the prestigious Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.

In 1992 he was named college teacher of the years by the Arkansas State music Teachers Association.  In 2008, he was named a Music Teachers National Association Foundation Fellow.  In 2010 when Arkansas state University celebrated its first hundred years, he was named one of the one hundred outstanding faculty for the first one hundred years.

In 2000, he was named a Friend of the Arts by the local patroness chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota. Dr. Kelly has been active in the Music Teachers National Association at the national, division and state levels.  He was a member of the national constitution board, and high school auditions chair for the south-central division (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas).  At the state level he has served as president and treasurer, and is currently certification chair and co-chair of the state auditions.  He has continued to teach a large class, perform, and maintain an active schedule as an adjudicator.

Funeral services will be 2:00 PM, Monday, December 20, 2021, at Emerson Memorial Chapel.  Burial will be at a later date in Lindsborg, Kansas.  Visitation will be from 1:00 until service time.  To sign an online guestbook, go to emersonfuneralhome.com.  For lasting memorials, please consider the JD Kelly Memorial Scholarship fund, ASU System Foundation, PO Box 1990, State University Arkansas, 72467. Mention Dr. Kelly and you can use the online application; https:\\www.astate.edu\a\advancement\give-now\index.dot.