Brighton, MA Piano Lessons

than 30 years, I am currently the Director of Worship for the chapel at Gordon College, a small Christian school north of Boston. I'm often involved in city-wide music events in Boston’s faith-based community and in demand as a featured musician for church services, parties, concerts and other events.

I hold a Masters of Music from New England Conservatory in Jazz Piano and am comfortable and fluent in a number of musical styles. In addition to private lessons and performing, I do music transcription, workshops, and all forms of vocal and instrumental arranging. My passions include morning coffee, finding new guitar chords, creating killer PowerPoint presentations, and trying to figure out how to use my smart phone.

*** Lesson Details ***
My priority as a teacher is to make the learning process fun, life-giving, and productive. I teach with patience and humor, at a challenging but not frustrating pace.

Some quotes from my students:
"I absolutely love learning from Bil! I've watched my playing and the playing of others at church vastly improve as a result of his training."

"[Bil] is filled with a large amount of knowledge, so while sitting under him you not only learn about how to play but you learn about music history and theory. Beyond being a good teacher he is genuine and friendly and cares about others."

"I have really enjoyed working with Bil. His patience and wealth of knowledge has helped me come out of my musical shell and has encouraged me to discover my musical voice."

"Bil makes learning theory fun! His deep understanding of music is complemented by his contagious enthusiasm."

"Bil has taken me to a different level. I went from tab and basic guitar chords, to building jazz chords and a far greater understanding of music theory."

There are at least two ways that might set me apart from other teachers.

Firstly, I have honed and developed "people skills". I am an ordained minister and have held positions where I was formally and informally in a mentoring/pastoring role. I bring that sensitivity to my music lessons, understanding that personal and emotional issues can be triggered by the engagement with the music and skills being worked on.

Secondly, I've had a remarkable broad base of experience. My coursework has exposed me to a wide breadth of ideas and tools; my work life has been long and varied; I have had extensive experience in many different cultural contexts, both musically and otherwise; and I work well with many age groups and skill levels.

Regarding my teaching approach:
For beginners, I have a fairly consistent set of topics and skill sets to cover. Generally, in a few months, piano students (particularly those in middle school through adulthood) should know how to play major, minor and seventh chords, how to read simple chord charts and some very basic accompanying skills. Guitar students should know a dozen open chords and have been introduced to barre chords, and to have learned several styles of finger picking as well as strumming. Bass students should know how to find notes on the board and will have begun to learn how to fill out a song with an expressive but non-obtrusive bass line.

For intermediate students, the pace, direction and focus on lessons depends upon the goals and passions of the student along with the amount of time he or she has to practice. My goals for students at this level and beyond is to learn how to learn. I will use outstanding recorded examples of particular skills or stylistic idioms to help my students understand and master each new concept. I often will check in with my student to make sure that we are on track with what they are hoping for.

For advanced students, we will generally target very specific objectives. I also try to add elements of theory, history, culture, and even life lessons to apply to the topics we address. Because of my background in pastoral ministry, I can serve as a mentor addressing the emotional and relational issues of playing music as well as its technical aspects.

*** Studio Equipment ***
upstairs music room: fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, amps, drum set, seating for parents

*** Travel Equipment ***
if for guitar or bass, that instrument; I expect piano students to have an available keyboard and for other students to have their own instrument(s).

*** Specialties ***
strong in jazz, rock, pop, gospel, sacred, R&B.

First Prize in the 14th International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Rome, Italy, and was awarded a Special Prize. In year 2006 Ms. S. won the Puigcerda International Piano Competition in Spain. In the same year she recorded the complete works for piano and orchestra by Balakirev with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra for NAXOS records. In 2008 Ms. S. received the “Outstanding Award”, which granted her a return engagement to give a second solo recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City. In 2010 Anastasia was awarded a Special Prize for the best interpretation of French composition at the International Piano Competition “Parnassos” in Mexico. Her solo recital in 2008 at the Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago was broadcast live on WFMT Radio, in Internet, and on the TV-Station “Channel 25“; Anastasia was invited to play there again in 2011. Her career continues with numerous appearances as a soloist both in concertos with orchestra, in solo recitals, and in chamber music concerts in Ukraine, Germany, Macedonia, Italy, Switzerland, France, Russia, USA, and Japan. Anastasia’s recent engagements included a performance at the Bolshoi Hall of Moscow Conservatory as well as solo appearances with orchestras in the United States and Germany featuring concerti by Prokofieff, Mozart, Grieg, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky. In 2014 her new CD "Music of Russian-Jewish composers for oboe and piano" was released. Currently, Anastasia is working on her two new solo CD's for Centaur Records.

In 2013, Anastasia was granted the Extraordinary Abilities in the Arts permanent US residence, as one of a small percentage of those who have risen to the top in their field of endeavor. Anastasia served as an Adjunct Faculty in Piano and Chamber Music at the Hartt School, and is currently on faculty of the New England Conservatory in Boston.

I offer scholarships for advanced level students upon request.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Yamaha Grand Piano. Piano books and theory material available if needed

*** Travel Equipment ***
Travel myself by car

*** Specialties ***
Traditional piano method. Classical music.

that all individuals learn and grow at their own pace.

s Interim Music Director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, MA.

ng theory is best when students are excited to practice them!

I teach beginner and intermediate piano students. I've been playing piano for 10+ years with a concentration in contemporary keyboard and musical theater. Depending on the needs of the student, we can work on sight reading and classical technique, or learning how to read chord sheets and tabs online in order to play contemporary songs.

As a professional touring and recording artist, I like to work songwriting into all of my lesson plans. For any student particularly interested in songwriting, I can make that a much larger portion of the lessons. Songwriting is a uniquely intimate art. Rather than tell a student how I think they should write songs, I strive to empower the student to be able to make the artistic decisions that they want. By making conscious decisions based on their musical knowledge, the student can grow his or her's own unique songwriting voice.

My personal passion is contemporary songwriting, but my own musical journey included many genres like Classical, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Theater, and more. I would not be the songwriter I am today without all these different experiences, so my goal has always been to foster passion and excitement for the material any student is learning.

ave also enjoyed performing as a fifer in the Middlesex County Volunteers, traveling to Edinburgh Scotland this August to perform in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo with the corps. I also am a composer, and actively play folk music with my fiancé. I believe that continuing one's own music education is very important, and learning new kinds of music regularly is crucial to every musician's development. My current project is being a part of the Celtic Music Ensemble at Club Passim in Harvard Sq, where my folk repertoire continues to develop. I have also attended Maine Fiddle Camp in the summer.

Since I was 18, I realized that my passion was teaching and working with kids. They are bright, interested and creative. I really enjoy seeing the process of a student's development over time, and love working with people to help them gain strength and confidence. Music is always interesting because you can always find new things to learn about; new songs, new pieces, new composers to listen to, new top hits to hear and love... it never gets old!

I can teach you how to read notes, to understand rhythms, to sight read (this means that you can sit down and read any music and play it almost perfectly on the first try!), how to accompany other musicians like vocalists or violinists, how to accompany yourself while you sing your favorite tunes, how to play jazz, folk, classical, or to help you find your style if you're not sure yet. I encourage you to ask me lots of questions!

I teach out of my cozy apartment in Arlington, and I really look forward to meeting you and helping you to become the musician you've always hoped to be.