I value each of my students’ unique personalities, strengths, and interests, and work to curate my teaching to best interface with these. I also encourage thoughtfulness in my students as they learn problem solving and technical mastery. Instead of teaching drills, repetition, and time-based practice sessions, I instead emphasize thoughtful solutions in our musical studies - working smarter, not harder - and teach the big-picture principles and “why” behind the traditions of piano.

I believe in the power of questions. Curiosity is the single most important ingredient in achieving fulfillment in piano. In our lessons, we cultivate this by asking questions about the musical score, the composer, the instrument, and experimenting with a variety of sounds and techniques. Magic happens when we ask “what if…?”

Imagination shows us the power and beauty of our own minds. I believe our potential at the piano is only as great as our imagination. Everything we play with our fingers begins as a sound picture in our mind’s eye, so I aim to nourish a strong imagination in all of my students. In my littles, this looks like games, fun songs, experimentation, improvisation, and play. In my teens and adults, it looks like out-of-the-box thinking when we tackle technical challenges, choosing “daring” artistic interpretations or musical choices, and digging deep to find our own unique musical identities. After all, we don’t play music to sound like everyone else, but to sound like ourselves.