A Passionate Professional | Celebrating Piano Teacher June Brus
June Brus loved music from the moment she began playing her neighbor’s piano as a child. She recalls making up songs on the piano, such as “We’re Having a Tea Party.” From age seven until college, she studied with the same piano instructor. She then attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance, followed by a master’s in Piano Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From childhood to adulthood, she attended live concerts of some of the greatest contemporary performers: Schiff, Horowitz, and Ashkenazy, to name a few, and master classes by Lyon Flescher, Menahem Pressler, and others, recalling, “These made such an impression… even if I went and learned one thing from them, it was worth it.”
June spent many years teaching both out of her home and at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where she was the head of the piano department. In 2003, she began providing piano lessons for Ӱ̳ (MBU) students. In addition to teaching private piano lessons to music majors and minors, she provides support and encouragement for piano pedagogy students, keyboard ensembles, chamber ensembles, and piano repertoire.
Mission in Music
June Brus’ personal mission is “to nurture the talent that the Lord has given these people… to help each student become the best.” It is “the best job in the world,” she says. Her investment is not only in her students’ music but also in their development as musicians. Raeanna Eastwood (Music Ed ’24) recalls, “Mrs. Brus introduced me to some of my favorite pieces of classical music, consistently pushed me to learn new and more difficult things, and taught with the perfect blend of emphasis on technique and emphasis on musicality—something I am trying to emulate with my students.”
When asked what she wants her students to remember from their lessons, she comments, “They need to keep growing every day.” She wants them to remember “not to be satisfied with playing the right notes, but have a vision for how they want the piece to sound and keep working towards that.” She also wants them to know they can be successful, that “everything is figure-out-able.” Former student Lorraine (Yant) Alner (’21, M.M. Performance and Pedagogy) recalls, “Leaving my last lesson, I carried with me a new-found level of confidence in performing; I’ll always remember Mrs. Brus as the one who made me feel ready to fly!”
Enduring Impact
During her 22-year relationship with MBU, June has influenced hundreds of students through classes and private lessons. Music teachers are uniquely privileged to invest in one-on-one relationships with their students. This investment is not easily forgotten, as some of her former students and colleagues have shared:
Lorraine writes,
A revered teacher recently shared the following with me: ‘Students may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.’ Having graduated from MBU nearly four years ago, perhaps this statement best expresses how I remember Mrs. Brus. While grateful for her wealth of feedback, technical skills, and interpretative insights, my most cherished and outlasting memory is indeed how she made me feel–supported, capable, and genuinely cared for. Her warm welcome, bright eyes, and beaming smile each week magically turned the terrifying passage I was about to play into oblivion–well, till I started the piece! Every lesson, her comments gave me a fresh perspective. I could count on her for help regardless if practice had been a triumph or disaster. I never felt the need to prove myself, because her affirmation and honesty left me both encouraged and motivated to tackle my next goal even when I was drowning in deadlines. After each milestone–jury, note check, recital, audition, or scholarship performance–she took time to celebrate the specific wins.
Raeanna reflects,
Memories with Mrs. Brus are numerous, but my favorites are seeing her on Chambers Tour 2023 in Colorado, and wearing her necklace during my senior recital – it was the perfect fit for my dress! When I graduated, Mrs. Brus gave me my ‘musical family tree.’ Some of the names on that tree are impressive – Van Cliburn, Bartok, Scriabin, Czerny, Liszt, Beethoven – but I’m so thankful that the name next to mine is June Brus’.
Colleague and former Music Department Chair Dr. David Ledgerwood comments:
We are blessed to have June Brus teaching for us. She is an incredibly gifted performer who brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to her lessons. Two of my children studied with her. Some of Maranatha’s most skilled pianists have been honed under her careful pedagogy. She has left her mark on the quality of our program!
MBU faculty member Janet Tschida writes,
When I think of June, I think of personable, professional, and passionate! Personable—June can relate to just about anyone with her love of hiking, teaching doggie school, lifting weights, and the list goes on. Her gracious manner immediately sets people at ease, and she genuinely cares about others. Passionate Professional—June’s passion for teaching and performing classical music exudes from her, and she ignites her students with the same passion. She has been an absolute gift to our department! The progress her students make under her teaching never ceases to amaze me, and we cannot thank June enough for her outstanding teaching.
Maranatha is thankful for June’s investment in the lives of her students, her commitment to excellence, and her continued impact on MBU faculty.
Bio
June Brus is a wife, mother, and grandmother to “the little joys” of her life. In addition to music, she enjoys many other hobbies including reading classical literature, hiking, walking nature trails, knitting, and sewing. She also works as a dog instructor, trains and shows dogs, and teaches classes at local dog shows.