I am a musician and piano teacher, living in the country on Market Hill Road. in Western Massachusetts. I have taught piano since 1990, and have performed on piano and electric bass for many years. I have developed programs for teaching improvisation and composition and teach a wide variety of styles of music. Having a degree in Ethnomusicology, I have a unique take on the world of sound, and I love to share with my students the different perspectives that different cultures and different eras have had. Art, dance, history...one can't separate music from life. I teach music from a composer's view, from the inside out, so that as we work together you have a thorough understanding of your experience.

I love to work with children. If a child wants to play, he or she should begin lessons around the age of 6.5 because it is important to establish hand coordination before the bifurcated brain becomes united. But lessons should not start before the child had understood the concept of symbols.

The musical notes on the page are just a shadow. When you play a piece, a spirit, or "genie," can live, i.e, every piece holds a living being. As you get to know the piece, the genie shows you more and more about its personality. Eventually, your personality merges with its personality, and something wonderful and magical happens. There's a connection, a message. This is the experience I try to help you attain.

I play jazz piano and bass, but my compositions are not really jazz. They are kind of exotic and electronic and non-western sounding with some weird sounding chords and pretty melodies. It's music I like to listen to.

One thing I've very fond of doing is playing for musicals. Whenever I get a chance to play piano or bass for a musical, I'm there. I have written two plays for my piano students and written music for them. I enjoy this very much. I would like to do more of this, if given opportunity to do so.

I teach beginners through advanced, children through adults. I have a B.A. in Piano Performance, an M.A. in Ethnomusicology, and a Ph.D in Music Education and Composition.

I have worked with special needs children. I teach the foundation of piano, including theory, technic, reading and repertoire, as well as jazz and improvisation. I will guide the student of piano through the eras of four main classical music and give a lively history of the other arts occurring concurrently. The major composers will be introduced so the student will have an adequate education. Theory will be stressed because music should be understood as the composer understands it. I have my own publication of technic which is used to prepare students for technical challenges. Sight-reading is taught systematically. Composition if the student is interested. I will help you express yourself through music even if you are a beginner. If you are an advanced songwriter I will give you constructive feedback and structure to help you become an even better musician and composer. I will broaden your mind and get you our of your rut.

I have been teaching privately since 1990. I am organized and use my time well. I am very detail oriented. It is critical to me that the student learns music, not just what the marks on the page mean. Above all, music makes life better, and I feel it is my job to impart that.