Piano with Dvora K.

Providing professional instruction for children and adults seeking to learn to play piano/keyboard/guitar and read music, or to train their voice to speak or sing with tonal clarity and ease. PIANO/KEYBOARD/GUITAR - The goal is to become, as quickly as possible, independently capable of playing any type of music and to use the instrument as a means of self-expression. Depending entirely on the person's interest, the skills I foster include sight-reading, improvisation, composition, music theory and an increased awareness of the full spectrum of sound. VOICE COACH -- The body is a living instrument. It personifies everything needed to emit sound -- a soundboard, an equalizer, bellows, pipes and power source. But there are critical skills one must learn to realize the full range and register of their voice, to find one's own sound, to not strain the vocal chords, and to be able to shift attention to performance. The most important of these are proper breath control and relaxation. I call my technique "fine-tuning the voice". The result is an ability to sing more smoothly through the registers, and in many cases, to increase one's range. I also incorporate into my teaching regimen a very specialized skill called "Toning". In its simplest form, toning is about changing discord to harmony. This is a very powerful tool that an actor or singer can use to attain a balanced, neutral state (the Tabula Rasa) -- easing the transition to developing a role and connecting with an audience. All of these skills can assist the person to create a "voice makeover" or just emanate the best sound possible. BACKGROUND - * Professionally trained in piano since age seven * Studied Sound, Voice Training and Music Education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory of Music. * Classically trained. * Toured Europe in 1969 with the Heritage Singers Choir, highlighted by a performance at the Haydn Festival in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra * Skilled in many singing styles, including pop and jazz * Since 1982, offering private instruction to children and adults, in piano (beginner through intermediate), voice and beginner guitar. I don't think of myself necessarily as a teacher . . . more of a guide. I have a special ability to see where the person needs to go, and I guide them in that direction. It's important to me that each person be seen as an individual, so I gear each lesson towards the particular pupil and don't use a formula. People sometimes ask me how long a person will need to study. Someone will want to study as long as we're having fun and the lesson isn't a burden or a chore. Music should become another language, another chance to express one's self and be heard in the world - "down time", a way to unwind or relax, to heal from the pressures of one's life.