Piano with Stephen P.

Hello! My name is Stephen, and I'm a pianist, singer, conductor, and teacher. My goal is to help my students use music to learn more about themselves and create the lives they want to live. Music is a language, and it connects people with each other and with themselves. I give my students the tools to feel confident about themselves and to build friendships through the common language of music. I have taught music for thirteen years, and I am an active professional performer in voice, piano, and conducting. As a pianist, I have won many awards from regional competitions and performed to warm applause in California and Hawaii. As a singer, I have performed at several major venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. As a conductor, I've served many organizations, including community and college choirs and orchestras. As a teacher, I've received many honors, and my students have won prizes at the local, regional, and national level. Most notably, my students won first prize at Musical Theater Competitions of America, hosted by Walt Disney Corporation in 2012, and several students have been accepted to prestigious undergraduate programs specializing in performance. Most of all, I am proud that my students feel that they become stronger as people as they grow as musicians. I hold a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University, a Master of Music degree from UCLA, and a Single-Subject Teaching Credential in Music from California State University, Los Angeles. I also have a medical background, so my approach to music-making can be very specific and detail-oriented. Making music well requires both discipline and passion. I strive to cultivate an optimal balance of both for each student. I am precise in my expectations of students, and we are always conscious of how the tools of discipline that we engage will serve the student's own creative goals. The result is that excellence becomes a thing of habit. Discipline supports natural creativity, and I think that's an approach that serves students for their entire lives. *** Lesson Details *** Students can expect a blend between technical skills, performance pieces, and music theory in their lessons with me. Assignments are carefully documented so that we are organized in our approach. Students are encouraged to participate in their own curricular development by identifying songs or pieces that they want to learn, and this supplements the curriculum that I provide. As a general guideline, I use Music Teachers Association of California's Certificate of Merit program to pace students' progress. After three months of study, students should expect to be able to understand basic music notation and begin to recognize patterns in music. After six months, students should expect to be able to read simple, short pieces without instruction, and a few basic technical elements will be mastered as foundational building blocks for playing, singing, or conducting more advanced pieces. *** Travel Equipment *** I expect students to have access to a piano. I will provide instructional materials. *** Specialties *** Singing: I use bel canto as a technical foundation to approach various styles of singing, highlighting differences in placement, projection, and balance. Theory: I use Note Speller for early beginners and Julie McIntosh Johnson's Basics of Keyboard Theory for others. Piano Performance: I use German high-finger technique as a foundation to approach various technical and musical needs.