Piano with Cole A.

I am a concert pianist and educator. My focus is on classical repertoire. I've been playing for about 26 years or so, and concertizing for about 20 years. I started seriously applying myself to teaching 7 years ago, when I began my doctorate at University of Michigan. Over the years I’ve brought my music to many places. I performed in Italy many times, and I’ve been to China, Singapore, New Zealand and in most states in the US. You get so much back from the whole experience of mastering an instrument. The piano has been my life for so long, it would be hard to imagine not having it be a part of me. When I started teaching, I was amazed at how inspiring the experience was for me. I found that when I had to verbalize things that I had always been doing instinctively before, the insight I gained over the actual mechanics of what goes into playing an instrument and making music grew exponentially. Also I became very invested in helping others to reach their goals—I hadn’t realized what a sense of satisfaction it would bring me, when I succeeded in helping a student to succeed and grow as a musician and person. I have a pretty versatile grasp of music and of my instrument. Even though my personal love is immersing myself in the great repertoire written for the piano over the past two and a half centuries, I am also comfortable with theory, composition and popular harmony. If you are looking to work on your compositions, or to expand your knowledge of harmony and theory I can help you reach your goals in those areas as well. I believe everyone should be as well rounded a musician as possible—that is always my goal with every student. At the same time, everyone has their own talents and interests that can be developed—every musician has a unique journey of their own to follow.