July 28, 2008 It runs in the family Madalyn Taylor holds a CD of music recorded by her daughter Melissa Jones at Taylor's home in Marriott-Slaterville. Taylor is a pianist and piano teacher, and Jones is a country singer. 180 Piano teacher to participate in two competitions By DEANNE WINTERTON Standard-Examiner correspondent As Riverdale resident Melissa Jones goes on a monthlong nationwide tour promoting her CD "Red, White and Blue Night in Georgia," she's often stepping into the spotlight in front of large audiences. But equally impressive is her mother, Madalyn Taylor, a Marriott-Slaterville resident not so used to the spotlight. She's content to talk about her six children and 23 grandchildren, without mentioning that she's placed in two international piano competitions. Even some of her closest friends don't know she's preparing to perform competitively in Seattle and New York this fall. "Her unassuming ways could make many people miss the real giant that she is," said Taylor's piano student Pamela Smith. "As proficient as she is at piano performance and teaching, one of her most unusual but greatest qualities she embodies is her humility." For 43 continuous years, beginning in high school, Taylor has taught piano lessons. At any one time, she teaches about 25 students, a third of whom are piano teachers themselves. "I have great-grandstudents," beams Taylor. Taylor studies under Eugene Watanabe, the first artist to graduate from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with degrees in two instruments: piano and violin. Every week for more than six years, Taylor has traveled to Salt Lake City for lessons with Watanabe. At Watanabe's insistence, she sent audition recordings to the amateur adult divisions of both the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in New York and the Seattle International Piano Competition. She placed in both and was invited to participate in live performances at each this fall. "I'm so proud of my mom," Jones said. "She's taught me that it does not matter what age you are, you can keep achieving dreams." With Taylor's background in music, it wasn't hard for her to recognize talent in her own children. Each has learned to play the piano, and most have gone on to study other instruments. Taylor instinctively knew, when 21-month-old Melissa began singing "Silent Night" with perfect pitch, that her daughter was destined to be a singer. Jones, whom Taylor describes as an opera-trained country singer, comes from a rich family history in music. Jones' grandfather, who loved to sing, was a tuner/technician with a piano shop in the backyard. "I could pick from 30 pianos in the shop to practice on at any time," said Taylor, who