Piano with Kimberly D.

I started playing the piano when I was 5 and violin at 10. At 13, I found my love when playing in an orchestra for a musical theater production. It showed me that my passion is interaction with other musicians, supporting them to make everyone sound better, and most of all, sharing the beauty and joy of music with everyone in hearing distance. I studied music at Grossmont Community College and Saddleback Community College, then completed my Bachelor’s degree in Music at UCSD. For over a decade, I have regularly played in up to four orchestras at a time, played in eight different musical theater productions including Sweeney Todd and The Phantom of the Opera, performed in orchestras for ballets and operas, and performed in string quartets, trios, and duos for private performances, weddings, and dinner parties. My teaching goals are to teach the student how to play their instrument with proper technique, use music to inspire them in other areas of their lives, and to be a positive role model like my private instructors are for me. *** Lesson Details *** Students can expect lessons to be positive experiences and almost always fun! I have experience teaching students of all ages and musical experience and love to learn about students’ pasts and dreams to incorporate them into the lessons. In addition to incorporating a student’s interests, I find the music the student wants to learn (whether it is classical, pop, or whatever they are interested in at that moment) and teach the techniques needed to reach their goals. Through this, practice is fun, and while not always easy, it allows students to see their quick development on their instrument. All curriculum used for each student is specifically chosen with their interests and learning style in mind. There is some music that I regularly used for technique but the pieces are chosen specifically for each student. In addition, the music is stimulating for students no matter if their learning speed is fast or if they need extra time. Because of this learning curve, I do not have goals for students after 3 or 6 months. Learning an instrument is more of a journey than a race and I want each student to learn to the best of their ability without feeling the pressure to learn faster or held back. *** Specialties *** While I mainly specialize on violin in classical solo, chamber, and orchestral performance, I also play for ballets and other dance performances, opera, classic rock, and my favorite, musical theater. I have some training in the Suzuki Learning Method for violin but I prefer the more traditional, European method that I was trained with. This method includes focusing on techniques and then learning well known pieces from the violin repertoire.