I am thrilled to share that on November 6th, 2023, I earned my Associate Level Certification as a teacher of the Taubman Approach from the Golandsky Institute Professional Training Program!  The training program is lengthy and rigorous, and involves attending private lessons, workshops and symposia, and supervised teaching sessions.  I have been working towards certification at the Associate Level since I earned my certification at the Instructor level in 2016.  The supervised teaching sessions and pedagogy workshops my students and I have participated in with my mentor, Robert Durso, and his colleague, Mary Moran--both co-founders of the Golandsky Institute--have formed a core part of the training program.  I am so grateful and honored to have been able to share these amazing learning opportunities with my students, and I look forward to offering further opportunities as I continue my lifelong study of this fascinating and rich body of knowledge!  I am also excited to be taking on the role of mentor myself for one of my own students, who is also a piano teacher, for the first time this year.  More information about the Golandsky Institute and the Professional Training Program is available here: www.golandskysinstitute.org

I am thrilled to announce that my piano studio is now open for in-person instruction at my new home in Cary, North Carolina!  I am so excited to be here in the Triangle area and to be offering in-person lessons again with my new students!

Now that I am all settled in, I am also excited to have the opportunity to upgrade my online teaching studio set up!  I am delighted to be continuing distance instruction with my online students, and I have been very pleased with the clarity and convenience my new equipment has provided over the past weeks.  As a Taubman teacher, I was very fortunate to have had experience with online lessons before the pandemic came along.  However, I have certainly learned a lot about how to create an ideal online lesson set up thanks to the recent months of teaching online full-time! 

​Below are some photos of my new setup and a summary of the new equipment I am using now.  I have also included recommendations for distance students who may want to upgrade their own set up to optimize their online lesson experience.  

EXTERNAL MICROPHONE:  I am now using an external USB microphone.  I wanted to offer the highest possible sound quality when I am looking to demonstrate musical concepts at the piano and have been getting very positive feedback from students since using this microphone.  

Distance students benefit from having an external microphone as part of their own online set up as well: when I can hear the student’s playing more clearly, I am better able to offer feedback related to both interpretation and technique.  The microphone I am using is a Blue Yeti, which retails for about $130, but there are more affordable alternatives for students looking to upgrade their own setup.  For example, the Blue Snowball USB microphone retails for about $50.     

IPAD AND APPLE PENCIL:  This has been the most exciting upgrade so far!  Since I can screen share from my iPad during a Zoom call, I am now able to put the students’ music on the screen and make notations directly on the score using my Apple Pencil in real time.  I have also been using this feature to write down notes on a virtual notepad about technical or theoretical concepts the we are covering in the lesson, which students can then screenshot on their own devices and save for future reference. ​

​I love the versatility of the Apple Pencil as well:  I can change the color, thickness, and opacity of the pencil or even use it as a highlighter.  I have been getting tons of positive feedback about this one and am looking forward to continuing to explore all of the possibilities here!  Best of all, distance students do not need an iPad or Apple Pencil themselves to enjoy the benefits of this addition to my set up. ​

Finding the equipment that works best my various online lesson goals has involved a lot of trial and error.  I am really pleased with what I have discovered so far, but I still have several more ideas in mind to continue to improve my setup.  Stay tuned for future upgrades coming soon!

Our first ever online recital was a smashing success this spring!  Students and their families gathered on Zoom for opening remarks, following by a group screening of the students' pre-recorded recital performances that I edited together to make a movie.  Afterwards, we gathered together on Zoom for the presentation of awards.  I am so proud of all of the students' accomplishments in recording their pieces and turning in such beautiful performances!  Despite all of the ongoing pressures of the pandemic environment, all of the students worked so hard to prepare and did a great job.  It was so much fun to see everyone online together, and since the online format made it possible for those who can't normally come in person to attend, we had the benefit of an extra-large audience!  Congratulations to all!  Check out some featured student performances on my YouTube channel, linked below:

Below is my own set up for online teaching and study.  I have a ceiling mounted tripod with a webcam for my overhead camera, since as a teacher I need an overhead view permanently.  I mostly use my laptop on one side for the side view, with a spot to move it to the other side of the piano set up also in case I need to show my other hand in detail. 
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​Danny enjoyed helping me prepare my blog post:

Here is my overhead view, helpful for demonstrating Taubman concepts  such as in and out movements to avoid twisting and curling, adjustments of the torso and walking hand and arm, and how to avoid stretching.

Danny is always thrilled to greet my students and their families as they arrive and send them off with a few wags of his tail, and during the lesson time is happy to enjoy the music quietly and have a nice nap.  I am so proud of how well he is settling in!  Thanks to everyone for the patience and love you have shown him as he learns his puppy manners and settles into his new life as a Piano Doodle!   

I hope you all have been having a great summer! It has been a great summer for me, and one of the highlights this year, as always, was attending the Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium.  The symposium was particularly exciting for me this year, as I had the opportunity to bring some of my students, too!  I was thrilled to be invited to bring two of my students to the symposium to participate in the Pedagogy Clinic.  Congratulations to my students, Andrew and Casey, who played in the clinic!  They both did a fantastic job!  

The Symposium is a weeklong event held at Princeton University every summer that offers the opportunity to study the Taubman Approach in-depth with the Golandsky Institute’s expert faculty. The symposium attracts piano students and teachers from all over the world who come to participate in the intensive week, which includes a variety of presentations and lectures, master classes, clinics, concerts, and private lessons.

Mary Moran, one of the co-founders of the Golandsky Institute, presents the Pedagogy Clinic each year.  It works like a masterclass: students present technical skills and music they have been working on in their lessons and and receive feedback from Mary in front of an audience of teachers.  This year, my student Casey, age 8, worked with Mary on the technical concept of balancing on each finger, one of the initial stages of Taubman training.  My student Andrew, age 13, played Chopin’s Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 28 No. 15.  The clinic was a valuable learning experience and great performance opportunity for the kids, and I was so excited to give my students this opportunity.  The clinic also gives Taubman teachers in the audience the rare chance to observe Mary’s teaching.  For teachers studying how to teach the Taubman Approach, observing experienced Taubman teachers at work is one of the best tools to becoming a better teacher.  Solutions to specific difficulties that come up teaching Taubman concepts with one student can often be applied with other students as well.   To learn more about the Pedagogy Clinic, recordings will be available for purchase at the Golandsky Institute website.