About Me
I have been a piano teacher since 1994. I am passionate, warm, and quirky with my students in a manner that disarms shyness, making piano lessons both fun and challenging. My students look forward to their lessons. Each student’s learning experience is unique. Methods and goals are individually tailored. Students in my studio are encouraged to bond as a group with activities such as group lessons and ensemble playing. Each school year concludes with a celebratory piano recital.
Students that are in or have been a part of my studio are invited to participate in occasional one day workshops in a multitude of art forms based on the philosophy of community music: that creative music making should be accessible to all. These workshops represent my love of expanding the “ears” of my musical family, including experimental composition with handmade instruments with internationally acclaimed maker Tim Kaiser, multigenerational singing circles, song-writing for non-songwriters, and musical playground games for families.
I use bits of all of these activities in my individual lessons, teaching basic rhythm with clapping games in addition to metronomes, and improvisation and composition with a creative use of given material. Having confronted m own fears of both singing and improvisation (as well as performance), I am in a better position to understand how my students feel as they grow as musicians and human beings.
Emily's Education
I am a voracious learner, always expanding my skills as an educator and musician. I study to deepen my knowledge and to remember what it feels like to be a beginner, to confront the frustrations that come at the start of a new skill or instrument. I have more than two decades of experience teaching students of all levels, from beginning to advanced, ages 4 to adult.
I have a Master’s Degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University. As a pianist, I studied with Dr. Tom Wegren of UMD, Dr. Mikhail Yanovitsky, Dr. Elyse Mach and Pawel Checinski, a student of Claudio Arrau and Leon Fleisher. In 2015-2016, I took a year to study in Ireland where I received an MA in Creative Process with a specialization in Community Music from the National University of Ireland, and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, Ireland where she studied with Dr Helen Phelan, Dr. Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Kathleen Turner and Dr. Niall Keegan. Though I am classically trained, I impart a love of all forms of music.
