Location: Rockland County, NY, Westchester, NY
Education
- She is a recent Bachelor’s graduate from Stony Brook University
Experience
Anna has been performing piano individually since the age of four. She is mainly classically trained, but also has experience with jazz and has been a pianist in a jazz ensemble, as well as learning jazz music theory in college courses. Additionally, Anna performed as a pianist in classical chamber groups, which typically consisted of three other musicians. She was in the Honors Program for piano throughout her private piano education at Hoff Barthelson Music School, and was required to participate in a solo high school graduation recital, where she performed five pieces from memory in front of a jury. In terms of Anna’s teaching experience, she was a piano teacher for three years at a summer program and has been a private piano instructor for three years for local families.
Bio
Anna’s area of expertise is piano, though she has experience playing viola and guitar as well. Additionally, she has taken a couple of classes in percussion, which has strengthened her comprehension of rhythm. For five years of her high school music studies, Anna got instruction in composition and songwriting. Considering Anna has a minor in music theory and creates her own music, she has much knowledge and experience in composition and encourages her students to create their own pieces, according to proper music theory techniques and rules.
Anna has extensive performance knowledge from performing individually and within chamber groups for piano, as well as performing in orchestras as a violist. She believes it is important for students to perform for others if they express desire for it. Having struggled with severe stage fright herself, Anna understands the stress and nerves that may result from her students performing in front of others. Additionally, Anna has experience with the NYSSMA curriculum and is able to instruct students according to the NYSSMA guidelines. This past NYSSMA season, Anna’s students received perfect scores.
Lessons with Anna will be primarily focused on helping students find their own passion toward music, and she does so by introducing her students to multiple musical genres, and giving her students the freedom to choose their repertoire. Once students have expressed desire toward learning music, Anna focuses on strengthening music theory and technical skills such as sight-reading and dissecting music to better understand the piece, as well as making sure the students are enjoying their lessons and are not too stressed out about the given material and homework assignments. From her past experience, Anna has come to the realization that productive learning has direct links to students’ opinions of their workload and type of work, and she emphasizes the importance of checking in on her students and confirming that they feel 100% safe and comfortable within their lessons. Anna’s primary goal is to create a welcoming and exciting learning environment for her students, as well as ensuring her students leave every lesson with more knowledge than they came in with. Anna places an equal emphasis on music theory, sight-reading, and composition.