When I was five years old I asked my brother for a Beatles record, only knowing they were the most popular band I’d heard of. He handed me John Lennon’s Imagine and I played it on my sister’s old 45 turntable. I can’t say I understood the meaning of the words but somehow the sound seemed perfect and through the power of music, the message hit me and I was moved to tears. This magic communication of the universal language we all share has been my focus ever since.

As a musician I began playing a drum I found in the garbage on the way home from little league when I eight, I banged along with records and began writing songs immediately. This helped lay the foundation for my teaching method, internalizing the rhythm. A couple of years later I started playing the guitar and my world really opened up. My first live performance was in 7th grade playing Pinball Wizard. I had to start the songs famous intro three times, but I did it then that magic took over. Through High school I began playing all the instruments I could get my hands on (percussion, piano, bass, trumpet, flute) and continue to play many of them professionally to this day. However, guitar has been my best friend and my focus throughout the years.

As an educator I hold a degree in Music education and I am pursuing my MA in Musicology. I am a five year veteran of the NYC public school system and I believe teaching is my vocation, a serious endeavor to be balanced with play. One of my education heros, Lev Vygotsky, showed that students learn best at play in a socially directed environment through interaction with their peers, (one reason I am thrilled to be at the iSchool). Lessons are scaffolded with support of basic skills being addressed but exploration and creativity is owned by the student. Improvisation and/or composition is crucial to my method; their immediate byproduct is a fun lesson but the lasting effect is life long self esteem and confidence. I do my best to make this the environment. I am currently writing my own guitar instruction book Breeze Easy Guitar Method, Finger fret String slide: Connecting Shapes for Least Movement.

As a performing artist and writer I have been active as a band leader in rock, jazz and Latin ensembles, film & television scoring and musical theatre for the last 20 years. I lead my world rock and jazz band Nova Columbo. We perform throughout the east coast and Europe and have received two Billboard songwriting awards for this project. In the visual media’s I have received the award for Best Score at the NYU and Milan film festivals and I have written and directed both text and music for the stage. It is a privilege to share my theory and passion for this magical communication with talented young people. I look forward to teaching and learning from them.

I still have beautiful childhood memories from my grandfather, the only musician of the family. He left me some of the most important skills a kid should have: how to ride a bike, how to read the time on the clock and how to enjoy and love the piano music. His musical legacy has been the engine of my life.

My mother enrolled me at the National Conservatory after my grandpa passed away. There I met the great composers and their masterworks while clandestinely I attended the rehearsals of the Philharmonic of Bogot. My passion for music had been born.

Later, during my adolescence, a friend gave me an audio cassette of Latin music which had some mambo and salsa tunes. At the beginning, I didn’t like it, but later I discovered how the piano played in very rhythmically and lively loops. That I liked! So, I started to copy the patterns by listening and, at the age of 16, I joined my first professional band with which I traveled around all my country.

In 2000, while I was a student at the Caribe-Ibero American Music program at the Arts College of Bogota, a huge challenge was presented to me. I had an opportunity to participate in a piano competition in the U.S.A. I participated and twice won the Charlie Palmieri Piano Latino Competition at the Harbor Conservatory of New York City. There I had the opportunity to study with some of the best exponents of Latin Jazz and Afro Cuban music.

Parallel to my experience in the Big Apple as a student, performer, arranger and musical director, there is one more passion in my life. It is to share with others my modest knowledge. Teaching and transmitting to children the wonders of music are also very important in my life. Every time I see a smile that the power of a beautiful melody causes in a child's face, I thank life for a gift that embellishes many of our moments.

My love of music came to me honestly through my mother’s love of the performing arts. Although she never played a musical instrument, she was determined to give her two daughters piano lessons, and every other lesson known to man, including baton lessons! By the age of 5, I was studying piano and singing in the choir and I never stopped! My mother also made sure that we saw every musical and ballet that came through my hometown of Chicago. And in those days, the touring productions traveled with the original Broadway stars such as Julie Andrews, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. Needless to say, I was enthralled with these productions and my love of performing grew.

By the time I reached high school, I was still studying piano and had added on voice lessons. I auditioned and performed in every musical opportunity I could find. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, therefore, when I announced I wanted to major in music in college, but it still was. To my parent’s credit, they adapted quickly and I earned a bachelor of music and a master of music in short succession, although my performing focus had now switched to opera. I entered college thoroughly entranced by musical theater, but quickly came to realize that my voice actually led me towards opera instead and the passion for classical music quickly followed. Although I had narrowed my major to vocal performance, the years of piano lessons continued to be a valuable asset in learning music quickly as well as making my way through difficult music theory and history classes.

I came to the east coast after receiving my master’s degree in vocal performance to participate in several prestigious young artist training programs, after which I moved to New York City. I started teaching piano and voice when I was still in college and have continued to do so at various schools and privately. Although I still perform regularly, I will always continue to find fulfillment in teaching. I enjoy teaching a wide range of students, from ages 3.5 to 75, a wide range of musical styles. I hope to not only pass along the fundamental elements of music, such as technique, theory and pedagogy to my students, but I hope to instill in them the basic love and passion for music and performing that I was fortunate to find at a young age.

I grew up in France and have extremely fond memories of listening to my father playing the piano when I was a child. He had put stickers on the keys of our antique piano and made color coded scores for me to play, even without being able to read music.

I soon started taking piano lessons and entered the Conservatory in Lyon, France. I then left for the US and Canada to continue my studies and am currently pursuing my Doctoral studies in Piano Performance.

Over the years, my professors have often been additional inspirations to me. That‘s particularly the case with Gilbert Kalish, who I now have the privilege of studying with.

I am particularly interested in performing music written today and in collaborating with composers. I regularly perform this repertoire in the US and in Europe.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a musician is to discover the most lively and enjoyable way to pass on my passion for music to my students. I try to make them develop a healthy technique, a strong sense of musicianship and most of all try to awaken their curiosity, and to make their ears receptive to all kinds of music.

My parents put me in a music school when I was 3. Pianists and singers looked very cool to me and I wanted to be like them. My first dream piano piece was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, 12 Variations” by Mozart which was in the tape recorder that my parents used to play at home and I performed it when I was quite young. My dream pieces grew many more to include Mozart’s Sonata in C major, K 330 and Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu, Edude Opus 10 No. 3.

I started to take voice lessons secretly from my parents with the money I made by my own when I was in high school. I’m especially in love with gospel music. I joined a gospel choir when I was in college and also started to teach those songs and direct gospel choir at my church and an elementary school.

When I hear music that inspires me, I want to play it! When I become one with the music I play, I can become the inspiration for others as well. Inspirations and dreams are the gift for us to achieve and I want to help my students to achieve theirs!

Currently, I’m the keyboard player of a Christian Rock Band, a classical pianist, and a gospel singer.

An Oakland, California native, I have a background in Folk, Classical and Jazz piano and voice. Having grown up in a musical household, it was no surprise when I started making up songs on the piano and singing about anything I could think of. My parents sent me to a piano teacher at age 5, which began my musical education. Throughout my life, I have had a consistent formal musical education. I started singing in choirs when I was 10, experimented with several instruments including accordion, and violin, and always had the foundation of piano to keep me going.

My father, a classically trained violinist, has been a prominent figure in the Bay Area and Central Valley Folk Scene since the 1970's. My sister and I spent our childhood among musicians, and dancers at many gatherings where folk traditions were being passed along in workshop and round-table settings. Having grown up in this folk scene, I've been influenced by traditional Eastern European, Balkan, Turkish, Flamenco, Americana, Irish, Scottish, Indian and Brazilian music and dance. I have spent years absorbing these styles in a traditional folk setting, supplementing with my love of Bebop, Soul, Pop, Funk and Rock.

I am an active, well seasoned performer. I write and perform my own music with a band that I lead, I have been involved in numerous theatre productions in Oregon and California, and I've been working as a free lance vocalist for years. I've also collaborated with many composers, dancers, and playwrights over the years. My students appreciate me because I am extremely warm, encouraging, and enthusiastic about sharing my love for music and performance. I truly love the student-teacher relationship, and the process of getting to know a student’s learning style, taste preferences, and personality.

I still have beautiful childhood memories from my grandfather, the only musician of the family. He left me some of the most important skills a kid should have: how to ride a bike, how to read the time on the clock and how to enjoy and love the piano music. His musical legacy has been the engine of my life.

My mother enrolled me at the National Conservatory after my grandpa passed away. There I met the great composers and their masterworks while clandestinely I attended the rehearsals of the Philharmonic of Bogot. My passion for music had been born.

Later, during my adolescence, a friend gave me an audio cassette of Latin music which had some mambo and salsa tunes. At the beginning, I didn’t like it, but later I discovered how the piano played in very rhythmically and lively loops. That I liked! So, I started to copy the patterns by listening and, at the age of 16, I joined my first professional band with which I traveled around all my country.

In 2000, while I was a student at the Caribe-Ibero American Music program at the Arts College of Bogota, a huge challenge was presented to me. I had an opportunity to participate in a piano competition in the U.S.A. I participated and twice won the Charlie Palmieri Piano Latino Competition at the Harbor Conservatory of New York City. There I had the opportunity to study with some of the best exponents of Latin Jazz and Afro Cuban music.

Parallel to my experience in the Big Apple as a student, performer, arranger and musical director, there is one more passion in my life. It is to share with others my modest knowledge. Teaching and transmitting to children the wonders of music are also very important in my life. Every time I see a smile that the power of a beautiful melody causes in a child's face, I thank life for a gift that embellishes many of our moments.

My love of music came to me honestly through my mother’s love of the performing arts. Although she never played a musical instrument, she was determined to give her two daughters piano lessons, and every other lesson known to man, including baton lessons! By the age of 5, I was studying piano and singing in the choir and I never stopped! My mother also made sure that we saw every musical and ballet that came through my hometown of Chicago. And in those days, the touring productions traveled with the original Broadway stars such as Julie Andrews, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. Needless to say, I was enthralled with these productions and my love of performing grew.

By the time I reached high school, I was still studying piano and had added on voice lessons. I auditioned and performed in every musical opportunity I could find. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, therefore, when I announced I wanted to major in music in college, but it still was. To my parent’s credit, they adapted quickly and I earned a bachelor of music and a master of music in short succession, although my performing focus had now switched to opera. I entered college thoroughly entranced by musical theater, but quickly came to realize that my voice actually led me towards opera instead and the passion for classical music quickly followed. Although I had narrowed my major to vocal performance, the years of piano lessons continued to be a valuable asset in learning music quickly as well as making my way through difficult music theory and history classes.

I came to the east coast after receiving my master’s degree in vocal performance to participate in several prestigious young artist training programs, after which I moved to New York City. I started teaching piano and voice when I was still in college and have continued to do so at various schools and privately. Although I still perform regularly, I will always continue to find fulfillment in teaching. I enjoy teaching a wide range of students, from ages 3.5 to 75, a wide range of musical styles. I hope to not only pass along the fundamental elements of music, such as technique, theory and pedagogy to my students, but I hope to instill in them the basic love and passion for music and performing that I was fortunate to find at a young age.

I grew up in France and have extremely fond memories of listening to my father playing the piano when I was a child. He had put stickers on the keys of our antique piano and made color coded scores for me to play, even without being able to read music.

I soon started taking piano lessons and entered the Conservatory in Lyon, France. I then left for the US and Canada to continue my studies and am currently pursuing my Doctoral studies in Piano Performance.

Over the years, my professors have often been additional inspirations to me. That‘s particularly the case with Gilbert Kalish, who I now have the privilege of studying with.

I am particularly interested in performing music written today and in collaborating with composers. I regularly perform this repertoire in the US and in Europe.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a musician is to discover the most lively and enjoyable way to pass on my passion for music to my students. I try to make them develop a healthy technique, a strong sense of musicianship and most of all try to awaken their curiosity, and to make their ears receptive to all kinds of music.

My parents put me in a music school when I was 3. Pianists and singers looked very cool to me and I wanted to be like them. My first dream piano piece was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, 12 Variations” by Mozart which was in the tape recorder that my parents used to play at home and I performed it when I was quite young. My dream pieces grew many more to include Mozart’s Sonata in C major, K 330 and Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu, Edude Opus 10 No. 3.

I started to take voice lessons secretly from my parents with the money I made by my own when I was in high school. I’m especially in love with gospel music. I joined a gospel choir when I was in college and also started to teach those songs and direct gospel choir at my church and an elementary school.

When I hear music that inspires me, I want to play it! When I become one with the music I play, I can become the inspiration for others as well. Inspirations and dreams are the gift for us to achieve and I want to help my students to achieve theirs!

Currently, I’m the keyboard player of a Christian Rock Band, a classical pianist, and a gospel singer.

An Oakland, California native, I have a background in Folk, Classical and Jazz piano and voice. Having grown up in a musical household, it was no surprise when I started making up songs on the piano and singing about anything I could think of. My parents sent me to a piano teacher at age 5, which began my musical education. Throughout my life, I have had a consistent formal musical education. I started singing in choirs when I was 10, experimented with several instruments including accordion, and violin, and always had the foundation of piano to keep me going.

My father, a classically trained violinist, has been a prominent figure in the Bay Area and Central Valley Folk Scene since the 1970's. My sister and I spent our childhood among musicians, and dancers at many gatherings where folk traditions were being passed along in workshop and round-table settings. Having grown up in this folk scene, I've been influenced by traditional Eastern European, Balkan, Turkish, Flamenco, Americana, Irish, Scottish, Indian and Brazilian music and dance. I have spent years absorbing these styles in a traditional folk setting, supplementing with my love of Bebop, Soul, Pop, Funk and Rock.

I am an active, well seasoned performer. I write and perform my own music with a band that I lead, I have been involved in numerous theatre productions in Oregon and California, and I've been working as a free lance vocalist for years. I've also collaborated with many composers, dancers, and playwrights over the years. My students appreciate me because I am extremely warm, encouraging, and enthusiastic about sharing my love for music and performance. I truly love the student-teacher relationship, and the process of getting to know a student’s learning style, taste preferences, and personality.

When I was five years old I asked my brother for a Beatles record, only knowing they were the most popular band I’d heard of. He handed me John Lennon’s Imagine and I played it on my sister’s old 45 turntable. I can’t say I understood the meaning of the words but somehow the sound seemed perfect and through the power of music, the message hit me and I was moved to tears. This magic communication of the universal language we all share has been my focus ever since.

As a musician I began playing a drum I found in the garbage on the way home from little league when I eight, I banged along with records and began writing songs immediately. This helped lay the foundation for my teaching method, internalizing the rhythm. A couple of years later I started playing the guitar and my world really opened up. My first live performance was in 7th grade playing Pinball Wizard. I had to start the songs famous intro three times, but I did it then that magic took over. Through High school I began playing all the instruments I could get my hands on (percussion, piano, bass, trumpet, flute) and continue to play many of them professionally to this day. However, guitar has been my best friend and my focus throughout the years.

As an educator I hold a degree in Music education and I am pursuing my MA in Musicology. I am a five year veteran of the NYC public school system and I believe teaching is my vocation, a serious endeavor to be balanced with play. One of my education heros, Lev Vygotsky, showed that students learn best at play in a socially directed environment through interaction with their peers, (one reason I am thrilled to be at the iSchool). Lessons are scaffolded with support of basic skills being addressed but exploration and creativity is owned by the student. Improvisation and/or composition is crucial to my method; their immediate byproduct is a fun lesson but the lasting effect is life long self esteem and confidence. I do my best to make this the environment. I am currently writing my own guitar instruction book Breeze Easy Guitar Method, Finger fret String slide: Connecting Shapes for Least Movement.

As a performing artist and writer I have been active as a band leader in rock, jazz and Latin ensembles, film & television scoring and musical theatre for the last 20 years. I lead my world rock and jazz band Nova Columbo. We perform throughout the east coast and Europe and have received two Billboard songwriting awards for this project. In the visual media’s I have received the award for Best Score at the NYU and Milan film festivals and I have written and directed both text and music for the stage. It is a privilege to share my theory and passion for this magical communication with talented young people. I look forward to teaching and learning from them.

The truth is, I don't know what inspired me to play music. Maybe I was too young for inspiration to have kicked in. When I watch my students practicing and trying as hard as they can to make their limbs work they way they want to, to play some exercise that I've asked them to play, the beauty is see is in their automatic and thoughtless response. Kids don't even think about why they want to play. They were drawn to the beat and the music before "inspiration"' had a chance to speak up. For me, the music that we all hear and feel, comes through me because that's the way I was made.

I started playing when I started banging on pots and pans and clapping my hands. I got my first set of mismatched drums when I was in the 5th grade. I've never questioned it or looked back since. After I graduated from college in 1999, my life as a professional musician began its long road. Ranging from acoustic open mics, cover bands and original NYC rock and roll, jazz and blues in quiet restaurants, to hours of intense study and the profound rewards of teaching, my life as a professional has been a constant evolution and growth….and it ain't over yet.

My musical education began playing in concert band in 5th grade and ceased after 7th grade because I simply was not enjoying it. I went on a small musical hiatus and in the summer of 8th grade was almost forced into a band with my friends, who were working at a summer camp and playing music for the campers. Soon summer and camp were over but the band endured and in the fall we entered and won a battle of the bands at a local public park. I think at that time I was instantly hooked on playing in a band.

Throughout high school I was in several bands and received private lessons. At that time I was totally against an academic approach to music, but that was only a passing phase. I was set on doing music in college and the audition process I remember was really brutal, as I was very unfamiliar with it as well as the mindset of academic music. I wound up going to a college not of my choice and I felt like I was just drifting through the program with no direction. I practiced hard but still was not getting the stimulation I wanted.

After two years I transferred to another college with a great program that challenged me and broke me down into the musician I am today. It took me five years to graduate but I am thankful for every moment I spent there, all that I learned, and all the great musicians I had the pleasure of learning from.

I really try to stress to my students that music is a journey and they are completely in the driver’s seat for the whole ride. You get back what you put into it and music can teach you so much about life and yourself and that realizing what you want is the only thing more important than figuring out how to get it.

I remember my first experience playing in the band program at my elementary school. It was exciting and fun and from that point on I was hooked. I have been playing in different bands ever since, from classical quartets to small jazz groups, funk, blues and big bands.

My teaching goal is to create a positive learning environment that encourages students to achieve their goals through discipline, creativity and successful modeling. As a teacher, I feel it is essential to be able to help my students to attain their goals in music and realize that each student’s goal may differ slightly. In order for the students to be motivated in their practice, smaller goals must be established. These goals can range from learning scales to preparation for an upcoming performance. I guide my students through increasingly demanding goals with positive motivation so that the student will enjoy the benefit of attaining these goals.

I currently lead my own group and recently released my debut CD New York Stories. In March 2011, I was the guest artist at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Spring Jazz Festival in Houston, TX. I have had the opportunity to perform extensively across the United States and Europe and have performed at many of New York's premier live music venues such as The Blue Note, Birdland, and The Knitting Factory.

My first musical experience was at age 5 when I began to learn tap dancing. Even at a young age I loved moving to the music and playing alongside the other kids. Then my kindergarten music teacher introduced the instruments of the orchestra and I fell in love with the violin. I wanted to play it so badly but being from a small town in Wyoming the opportunity to learn this beautiful instrument did not exist.

My desire to learn violin continued and in the summer before my sixth grade year, my father bought me a violin. We found the sole violin teacher in my town and I began lessons. Having no orchestra to play with, I played in the school band -- oboe music on violin, and percussion during the marching season. Then, in the summer of 2004 I was accepted on full scholarship to Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan and in 2006 moved to New York City.

My love for teaching blossomed when I volunteered with the Corona Youth Music Project, Nucleo Corona, the first El Sistema program in Queens. Now, I am deeply involved in children’s education, teaching private lessons, music theory and history, orchestra, paper orchestra (a pre-orchestra class designed to teach children proper instrument care and general knowledge) and serve as a team leader for children’s education projects at New York Cares. I use what my teachers have taught me to break down violin technique and musical development into simple, achievable steps. Music has had a monumental impact on my life and my goal is to instill the principles of passion, perseverance, and determination in my students through their music education.