Classical Piano with David C.

I am a Chicago-based performer and teacher who never tires of the magic of watching students get better, including myself. Practicing is the first thing I like to do when I wake up and the thing I turn to when I want to feel better about the world - or just procrastinate on another, more difficult task. My specialties include classical piano, classical voice, violin, musical theatre, Scottish and Irish fiddle, music theory, ear-training, sight-singing, and anatomy. I started playing violin and piano when at 5 and singing at 14. By the time I graduated high school, I had served as staff accompanist at a Presbyterian church, performed in the bass section of the Nashville Chamber Singers for two years, performed in a bunch of community musicals, placed 1st Chair in the TMEA All-State Choral Auditions for two consecutive years, earned 1st Prize at the Schmidt Vocal Competition, and earned a Myra Jackson Scholarship to study piano in the pre-college program at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt. I had also earned myself some pretty severe tendonitis in both arms from overuse, a year away from playing, a whole lot of physical therapy to recuperate, and a fair amount of confusion and anger to work through. My experiences with those injuries and feelings have resulted in an emphasis on physical awareness, knowledge of the body, and joy in exploration in my work with students. I attended Northwestern University on a merit scholarship to study in the Vocal Performance program in the Bienen School of Music, where I connected with my voice professor, Kurt Hansen. Despite my love of classical voice, I knew at the time that my professional interests lay in music theatre and acting. So, continuing to study in Kurt's studio, I transferred to the School of Communication, where I studied acting and playwriting, graduating with a B.S. in Theatre/Music Theatre. Upon graduating, I promptly fell in love with circus arts, eventually studying trapeze at the New England Center for Circus Arts, where I also took advantage of New England's vibrant fiddling scene. I have since made a hybrid career of all-of-the-above, often working multidisciplinary contracts in the ever-expanding niche of Actor-Musician, playing characters that demand high physicality (like Thing 2 in an aero-infused production of CAT IN THE HAT), or working as a music or movement supervisor on theatrical production teams.