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I am a pianist and composer interested in working with students of all age and experience levels. I have both classical and jazz performance and teaching experience, and enjoy teaching at any level. As a composer, I have had recent premieres in NYC and Boston, and my work was performed at the Women Composers Festival of Hartford. As a pianist, I have toured with Mixed-Race Mixtape, a hip hop theater project aimed at facilitating conversations on race and identity. Most recently we performed at the University of California Irvine's New Narratives series.
I have been teaching for the past three years, and discovered my love of teaching when working as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. More recently I have taught piano lessons to students ages 4 and up at Allegro School of Music in Tucson. I love finding ways to motivate students based on their musical goals and interests, as well as introducing them to new music. I always ask students if there are any songs that they want to learn, and encourage them to make requests!
For young beginners, I like to use the Bastien Piano Basics lesson books to begin working on finger independence and reading, supplemented by reading flashcards and games. Once the student has a good start reading music, I use a more eclectic approach based on the student's interests and goals. I find that students progress quickly when they are able to put new concepts into practice in the context of songs that they ask to play. I also include classical repertoire to introduce the student to new music and give him or her a well-rounded experience.