Photo credit: Kristen Adams

Why should you choose Keys to Artistry?

Education

I have received Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees in piano, my graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, one of the most highly respected music institutions in the world. When deciding to whom you should entrust your piano education, or that of your child, it's often easy to consider lessons from the neighbor down the street who plays a little piano. or the choir teacher who took two years of piano in college, because the location is convenient, or the price is very low. But if you have a choice, consider investing in the unlimited potential of a piano education in a studio with training of the highest caliber. In short, I studied my fingers off--take advantage of it!

Experience

I started teaching in 1996, and have continued to do so through my college and graduate school years, then through my over fifteen years at the University of Mount Union, where I hold the rank of Professor of Music. I have years of experience teaching all ages, from age four to senior citizens. My doctoral specialization was piano pedagogy, and I have taught many pedagogy courses at the college level too, in addition to private lessons and group piano courses. My former piano and pedagogy students have gone on to become successful piano teachers in the community, have often won the University of Mount Union concerto competition and other events, and have been accepted to graduate schools across the country.

When I chose a gymnastics facility for my three-year-old daughter, I searched for one where she could blossom should she manifest a particular ability in the sport. I settled on a gym that had a long history of teaching young children through high school students, many of whom secured gymnastics scholarships in college. I felt confident that my daughter could prepare from the beginning to a very high level in that gym, assuring continuity of education. You will find the same opportunity for continuity in my studio, with students having access to piano teaching from the very basics to a highly-advanced level, as demonstrated by my high school and University students' performances.

Network of Opportunities

In the Keys to Artistry studio, you and your child will have access to the many professional ties I have established along the years. Consider such opportunities as:

• My weekly studio class at the University of Mount Union, where intermediate and advanced students play for each other and discuss in a constructive, informal atmosphere inspiring each other to improve.

• Easy access to University of Mount Union guest pianist recitals and masterclasses, with the opportunity for students to play for acclaimed visiting artists.

• Strong professional ties to Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland and Mattlin-Hyde piano company, assuring everything from access to the best selection of pianos for any budget, to professional workshops on a variety of topics, to opportunities to hold events in the beautiful Steinway Gallery recital hall on the same superb concert pianos as internationally-renowned artists.

• Many professional involvements--including my role as secretary on the Board of the Alliance Symphony Orchestra, former co-president of the Stark County Music Teachers' Association, and current co-chair of the Middle East District of the Ohio Music Teachers' Association--yield steady access to student and teacher events such as Ribbon Festival in March, Scales Olympics in October, Honors and duet recitals, and district and state-wide competitions.

• Powerful professional connections with some of the world's great pianists, such as Pierre and Sophie van der Westhuizen of the Westhuizen Duo, Polina Bespalko, and the celebrated Pridonoff Duo of Eugene and Elisabeth Pridonoff.

The Studio

In my centrally-located studio (very close to the Canton Symphony Zimmerman Center and the NFL Hall of Fame), students have the privilege of playing and learning on two beautiful grand pianos: a Yamaha G-1 and a 2009 Steinway model M. An accompanying Yahama upright model P is also available for demonstration and ensemble work.

Active Pianist and Teacher

Many teachers, especially at the beginning and intermediate level, stop performing. I find it painful not to be making music of my own, and have stayed busy playing many solo recitals, concerto performances, and chamber concerts. Continued practicing and performing not only keeps my skills current, but continues to stretch me to learn more music, solve new problems, open new doors to discovery, and hone my own performing process: all tools I can in turn share with my students. I will continue to be an active performer, unlike many of my colleagues. As a student, I remember being incredibly inspired by hearing my teachers practice in their studio, prepare, rehearse, and perform brilliant music. As a teacher, I want to always remain a strong pianist, and provide that experience for my own students.

Responsibility for the Beautiful

I may not save lives, but I consider it a privilege and important responsibility to teach and perform music. In an August 4, 2011 article in the Alliance Review, columnist Chris Schillig opined: "Somebody a lot smarter than I once said that making a living is much different than living. If we come home at the end of every day to nothing more rewarding than a can of beer and the evening news, what kind of a life is that? But if we come home to an appreciation of literature--great and not-so-great--of dance, of music and architecture, we are never bored. Or as the late, great Joseph Campbell once told interviewer Bill Moyers, 'When you get to be older, and the concerns of the day have all been attended to, and you turn to the inner life--well, if you don't know what that is, you'll be sorry.' 

Power of Music

I truly believe in the powers of the arts, especially music, to allow us to express, teach, mold, advocate, heal, love, help, and live most fully. As pianist Karl Paulnack of the Boston Conservatory once told his incoming class of freshmen: "If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would imagine that ... someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you're going to have to save their life...  [Well,] someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft...You're here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul...who works with our insides to see...if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well. Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation...If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do. As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives."

Why Me?