Elise A  
Instruments: Piano, Trumpet, French Horn
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Electronic, Showtunes, Spirituals, Swing, New Age, Marching Band, Avant-garde

I bring three overarching goals to captivate, challenge, and fascinate each individual student, each rooted in my understanding of teaching as an invitation to relationship. The primary goal is to develop respect. I will model and explicitly lay out guidelines that make passionate yet respectful exchanges of musical ideas possible, and the student is expected and encouraged to return the sentiment. A successful learning environment is established in a place where mutual commitment and earnest discipline rest at an equilibrium. Second, I invite the student to build a relationship with the goal of understanding the fundamental elements of music theory, history, and practices and how we relate and utilize them on the trumpet. It is my responsibility to provide these fundamentals, and it is then the responsibility of the student to learn and implement these elements to the best of their ability and to become inspired to ask questions along the way. The student will be expected and encouraged to take ownership of their goals, and we will work together on not only what these goals are, but how and why they can be used to communicate musically and beyond. Third, the student is invited to a relationship with the musical world around them. The one hour a week we spend working together is not bound to the limitations of that brief period of time, location of the lesson, or even any specific detail on which we might place our attention. Indeed, we will learn the ABCs of music and trumpet playing, but I will place an emphasis on listening to live and recorded music and attending concerts in an effort for the student to discover how their training relates to what occurs outside the four walls of the practice room. It is on purpose that the word invitation is overtly interspersed throughout this teaching philosophy. Fundamentally, I subscribe to the belief that teaching is an invitation to relationship. If authentic, life-long learning is to occur, and the student seeks to develop respect for the teacher-student dynamic, the craft, and their relation to the musical world around them, the choice whether to accept the invitation must always remain theirs. I will continue on my adventure fueled by love and imagination, determined to make that invitation to relationship as significant, enthralling, and heart-felt as possible. When a student is compelled to RSVP with a yes, no larger inspiration could resound.