My music teachers have been the most influential people in my life. They have all been loving people with a strong passion for music. They have made learning about and being involved in music a wonderful experience and their happiness has shown through teaching music. My directors in public school and my private teachers as well, taught me not only about music, but gave me a variety of valuable information I needed for life.
I began playing piano at age five. I played a variety of music ranging from classical to pop to rock, and ended up, in high school, taking jazz piano lessons from Billy Foster at Valparaiso University, in Indiana, where I am from. At age nine, I began playing violin through my school’s music program, and began lessons a year later.
I loved music, and excelled at it, so in high school, I began teaching privately to younger students in my school. My teachers encouraged me to pursue music in college, and I recently graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Instrumental and General Music Education. I studied both violin and piano privately, and studied pedagogical approaches to both instruments. I have played in community orchestras, musical pit orchestras, and the Ball State Symphony Orchestra. I taught violin sectionals at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for two years, and was the concertmaster for Blue Lake’s International Youth Symphony Orchestra, traveling to Germany and France with the group in the summer of 2012.
On violin, I am not only interested in classical repertoire, but have played fiddle tunes, folk music, jazz, and rock. I believe improvisation is an important skill on any instrument, so my approach involves improvising, as well as reading from notated music. On piano, I have played classical, jazz, rock, blues, folk, as well as accompaniment for musicals, and soloists. I love teaching music because it means that I am sharing what is one of the greatest things on earth. My music teachers inspired me to play music, and I want to give other students the same inspiration.