Violin Lessons in San Antonio, TX

Instruments: Piano Violin Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Flute Clarinet Drums Synthesizer Recorder Electric Violin Fiddle Orchestral Percussion Music Keyboard

What musical accomplishments are you most proud of?
As a musician of over 27 years now, I have had the blessing to perform with many bands, ensembles, and choirs in New York, California, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Texas. As a fully-certified music educator of 13 years in both New Jersey and Texas, I'm also grateful for leading numerous bands, ensembles, and choral groups...at the height of it all, I'd say I'm still learning to be a better musician--that I've got so much work to do! So many venues, so many musical genres, and I place performance as the cornerstone of what I do as a music educator. If I absolutely had to pinpoint a specific performance, well, I had the rare opportunity to perform with the late James Moody (saxophonist) and his band not once but twice during the Summer of 1996 in North Carolina. The experience inspired me to play saxophone forever!

Why did you choose your primary instrument?
My step-father had a used, generic-brand alto saxophone in the back of his closet from his days of playing in school bands. When the time came for me to choose an elective for junior high, I chose band as I always liked both the look of the saxophone as well as its sound (as heard from many selections of pop music in a variety of specific genres). But I must tell you that music (school band with the saxophone) was my only extra-curricular activity. Coming from a large family, that was all we could afford, and failure was not an option. So, I practiced at least 2-3 hours every single day! The saxophone accompanied me to friends' houses, on family vacations to see distant relatives, at church functions...as long as everyone was awake I played. I played because I wanted to achieve certain results (e.g., specific techniques, the ability to master various songs, etc.)

Have any of your students won awards or been selected for special honors? How have they succeeded?
When I taught middle school band to at-risk youth at a charter school in Southern New Jersey during my first two years of teaching, I was adviser of Tri-M (Modern Music Masters). All of my section leaders (1st Chair students from my Advanced-level band) were inducted into this national junior honor society of musicians, which is a division of NAFME: The National Association For Music Education (of which I am a proud member). These kids got to perform often outside of regular band performances, and most were also members of my Pep/Jazz Band. I've had students who went on to pursue music education as a major in college, but one saxophone student stands out: Austin was a senior in high school whose father is an alumnus of the legendary Texas A&M Band (also a saxophonist). When Austin came to me during his final year of high school, he had never played any instrument...but he was determined to follow in his father's footsteps and join his Alma Mater band. With my instruction and guidance, I held Austin to very high standards and behold: He passed the audition and come this fall he will already be a senior in the Texas A&M band!

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