BackgroundI began piano at the age of 5 in Seattle Washington and studied at home with a wonderful teacher who looked very much like Brahms. . Middle School was filled with music as I played for the Cherub and Junior Choirs at church and studied with Mrs. Stoner who’s husband built Harpsichords. Each Bach, Handel or Scarlatti piece completed had a privileged performance on a hand built Harpsichord. During my High School years, I studied with a famous teacher from 1969-1975, Mr. Moore had entered the Royal Academy in Budapest at age 9 and played for Liszt in 1881 a transcription of a Bach Cantata. Each student who auditioned performed just one piece and my teacher had the gumption to play a Liszt piece. In my college years at the University of Washington, 1976-1981, my music Professor Randolph Hokanson led me to discover four handed repertoire. Visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph_Hokanson. Summers were spent studying piano in the Bay Area with Trula Whelan and teaching bi-weekly lessons to her younger students. See: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/insidebayarea/obituary.aspx?n=trula-polwarth-whelan&pid=112430711 Trula Whelan was an inspirational mentor, advancing me into a piano teaching career. In 1988 moving to the Baltimore area with it's rich music and arts environment led establishing and maintaining a piano studio spanning 20 years as well as establishing ties to MTNA, MSMTA and MTAGB. Currently I am the Eastern Division Coordinator for the MTNA competitions http://www.mtna.org/ and serve as the VP for Membership at MSMTA http://www.msmta.org/. |