Piano Lessons in Santa Clara, CA

Instruments: Piano Organ

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
My practice is different every day. The window of time available changes, sometimes during the practice session. Rather than stubbornly sticking to my original plan for that session, I have found much more peace of mind in revising the goal for the day. Example: When you have planning on practicing for two hours and then the phone rings, changing your plans, when you reassess the time available and find something that can be accomplished within that amount of time, you will have reached a goal and will feel good about it. There is no requirement to adhere to a rigid goal and feel down on yourself for not accomplishing it. Life happens! FYI, it took me a long time, i.e. years, to learn that!

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
I would give my right arm, as they say, to be able to perform Twenty Portraits of the Infant Jesus by Olivier Messiaen. It's too hard! Several years ago, I found four movements that seemed to be more accessible than the others. I would practiced them for two months, say, then put them aside. Six months later, I would try again. The result was always the same. My fingers remembered nothing and I had to start over. After four rounds of this, I decided to look at Messiaen's Preludes instead. I have happily performed three of the Preludes many times. Pierre Laurent-Aimard performs the Vingt Regards (Twenty Portraits) on tour, from memory. I have ceded ownership of the piece to this wonderful pianist.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Yes, music was something that was always around when I was a child. My father was a minister. He had sung in his college's male quartet. He had a lovely bass voice, and with further training might have had a professional singing career. My mother had been a public school music supervisor before I was born, after which she taught kindergarten and supervised the elementary Sunday School department in our rather large church. She led a brief worship service for the children before smaller classes were taught, including a music component. My parents met in college choir. In the Midwest, ministers' children at the time typically took lessons. My three older siblings all played instruments, with my sister playing both piano and organ. She played organ for our church before I did. It must have been an unspoken part of the circumstances that the minister's children play for church. Even if that was the case, it was fabulous training. Playing congregational responses and hymns well requires good listening skills, the ability to adjust to changing acoustics depending on the size of the congregation, providing inspiration for the congregation to keep a steady tempo, and dreaming up something to bridge unexpected gaps in the service. That's quite a challenge for a 14-year-old! Also, church services and choral rehearsals have many similarities in terms of the number of participants, size of the space, location of the piano or organ, listening and response skills needed.

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
When thinking about college choices, I began thinking about various possible majors. Since I felt very strongly that I would never be able to live without music, the decision was an easy one. Settling on the piano took a little longer. I started out majoring in organ. However, my older sister is such a good organist, that was a big factor in my choosing something else. In addition, it turned out that I was more comfortable playing the piano, while my sister found a better fit with organ. That said, I have had organist/choir director/choral singing jobs in different churches and denominations since age 14.

Read More