From young students to professional musicians
Many parents asked me if their children were gifted in music. And if it was so, should they pursue music education to become professional musicians. It was rewarding for me to find out that some of my gifted…
Two promising girls, two different mothers
Natalie and Mona went to the same preschool, were in the same Music Workshop class, and simultaneously graduated from my program. These two girls were best friends. Natalie seemed to be…
I played on Edvard Grieg’s piano
One day I was lucky to play on Edward Grieg’s grand piano “Steinway.” Grieg was my favorite composer when I studied in music school in Russia and later in music college. Could I imagine at that time that I…
How I handle challenges of teaching piano by Skype
I taught piano by Skype since 2012 from our summer house in Michigan. Before that year, when we traveled around the United States or went abroad, I gave my piano students a long list of practice pieces…
My thoughts about the Suzuki Method
Everyone heard of the Suzuki method. But not many people know how this system is taught and what the results are. According to Suzuki, toddlers can learn to play an instrument (mostly violin) by age 3…