Maria del Pico Taylor  was a Professor of Piano at Temple University in Philadelphia; Co-founder and Co-director of The Dorothy Taubman Seminars in New York City and Founder and Artistic Director of Latin Fiesta Inc., a member of music ensemble under the management of Milton Orkin at Producers Inc. Tampa, FL. Latin Fiesta is listed in the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Directory of Artists in Education and on the Artists Roster of Young Audiences of Eastern Pennsylvania. 

             Maria Taylor was the first Cuban pianist to receive the coveted Canada Council Grant for advanced studies at the University of Toronto, where she graduated with distinction with Artist and Licentiate Diplomas in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. She held a Masters Degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. Her teachers included Paul Stassevitch, Adele Marcus, and Dorothy Taubman. She worked with Dorothy Taubman  from 1980 until Ms. taubman's passing and was responsible for introducing the Taubman piano technique to Philadelphia audiences. She was a frequent presenter of lecture and master classes on the Taubman technique at State and National Conventions throughout the USA. This includes: MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), and The National Conference on Piano Pedagogy.

             Internationally she was a guest clinician in France, Poland, England, Czech Republic, and at the International Conference for Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2004, 2005, 2006. Her article on the Taubman technique was published by Clavier in 2006. In 1984 Maria Taylor was the winner of the Lindback Award for excellence in teaching at Temple University and in 1994 she was selected "Teacher of the Year" in the state of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association (PMTA).

Her expertise in Spanish and Latin American Piano Music won her innumerable invitations to perform and present lecture-recitals both nationally and internationally. Ms. Taylor premiered several Hispanic works in Philadelphia, including the Concerto Cubano by Paul Csonka with the Temple University Symphony Orchestra and the Concertino for Piano, Strings and Cymbals by Carlos Surinach with the Pennsylvania Pro Musica Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Franklin Zimmerman and Rimas for voice and piano by Roberto Sierra.

            As a distinguished Latino artist she was nominated for many awards and was selected by the Ibero-american Foundation as One of Six Outstanding Hispanic Women in the City of Philadelphia for her contributions to the promotion of Hispanic Music. In addition, Professor Taylor lectured on the Taubman Approach in Scotland and Brazil. 

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Dorothy Taubman spent more than fifty years of study and research in the field of piano pedagogy. Her ideas on interpretation were as penetrating as her approach to technique. Her master classes stressed how to blend each composer's intent and style with the performer's capabilities and individuality. She had an International reputation for revolutionary concepts and principles on the art of playing the piano.  The New York Times described her as a "doyenne of the master class who understands a lot about how people play the piano."  She directed the Dorothy Taubman Institute on Piano at Amherst College from 1972 to 2002.

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A natural and powerful technique, the Taubman Approach liberates pianists to play effortlessly, unburdened by physical limitations. Based on principles of physiology and coordinated motion, the Taubman Approach enables pianists not only to unravel technical  complexities that might block artistic expression, but also to avoid fatigue, pain and injury. Performing artists, students and teachers can discover the power of Dorothy Taubman's technique through a full range of instructional venues.

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