When I first began piano lessons as a young child, I was taught to play with my fingers, and only my fingers. As a result, I carried a lot of tension in my hands and arms, and I was limited in the amount of expressiveness and color I was able to achieve in my playing. It wasn’t until I had an instructor who’d been trained in the Russian tradition that I realized there was a better, more holistic approach!

When your child begins lessons with me, they will learn how to use their whole body to aid in sound production, rather than playing with only the fingers. The entire upper body should be involved in playing—wrists, arms, even the strong muscles of the back! By learning to involve one’s entire being in the process of playing, one can achieve a greater variety of sounds and truly learn to play with a beautiful “singing” tone.

I specialize in working with children, the reason being that I truly enjoy the happiness and vitality that young people bring into my life. There is no greater thrill for me than to witness the moment of discovery on a young person’s face after they’ve accomplished something they initially thought was too hard, or found a piece of music that they absolutely love. Moments like these make teaching so satisfying!

I view every child that comes through my door as special and unique—they all have different talents and gifts to share, and it is the most exciting thing in the world for me to discover and draw out those gifts. Sometimes this is a process that requires much digging and patience on my part; other times, there is no mystery! Either way, I thoroughly enjoy the process, and I love watching children grow and learn to love music as I do.