Margaret Saunders Ott was a distinguished American pianist and teacher. Her career included teaching positions at Lebanon Valley Conservatory

Lebanon Valley College

Lebanon Valley College is a small, liberal arts higher education institution situated in the heart of Annville in Lebanon County, east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.-History:...

 (PA), Bishop School (CA), Washington State University

Washington State University

Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...

 (WA), Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University

Gonzaga University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by the Society of Jesus, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and is named after the young Jesuit saint, Aloysius Gonzaga...

 (WA), Payap University

Payap University

Payap University established in 1974, is a private institution founded by the Church of Christ in Thailand. Payap is a founding member of the Association of Private Higher Education Institutions in Thailand, and an active member of the Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia, as...

 (Thailand), and most notably, Whitworth College (WA), where she taught for 25 years and was chair of the piano department.

After graduating from Mills College

Mills College

Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...

 (CA), she attended the Juilliard School

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

 (NY), where she studied with Moriz Rosenthal

Moriz Rosenthal

Moriz Rosenthal was a great Polish pianist. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jules Massenet and Isaac...

, Sasha Gorodnitzky, and Olga Samaroff Stokowski. She later became Madame Samaroff's assistant, traveling with her to Los Angeles.

With the blessing of Madame Samaroff, Margaret (better known as "Margie May"), returned to the Pacific Northwest to marry Franklin Ott, raise a family, and to teach and perform. Over the years she guided many outstanding pianists and piano teachers, among them Philip Aaberg

Philip Aaberg

Philip Aaberg is an American pianist, keyboardist, and composer. He gained international recognition through a series of successful piano recordings released on Windham Hill Records. Although classically trained, Aaberg incorporates classical, jazz, bluegrass, rock, and new music elements into his...

, Nancy O'Neill Breth, Susan Brown, Deborah Dewey, Stephen Drury

Stephen Drury

Stephen Drury is an American pianist, conductor and electronic musician.Drury has performed and recorded a range of compositions by classical and contemporary composers including Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives, John Cage, Frederic Rzewski, and John Zorn...

, Jody Graves, Donald Manildi, Ricklen Nobis, Greg Presley, Scott Rednour, and Greg Slag. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award by the Music Teachers National Association

Music Teachers National Association

-Membership:Its membership consists of approximately 22,000 independent and collegiate music teachers. MTNA headquarters are in downtown Cincinnati on the 31st floor of the Carew Tower.- MTNA structure :...

in 2003.