About Me
I was born into a happy, hard-working Norwegian American family in St. Paul, Minnesota, where music and laughter were always present. I had an active childhood with lots of outdoor play and exploration. Our family loved going camping, spending hours singing in harmony while cozying up around the campfire.
I can't say I loved the first six years of piano lessons - my first teacher had a new baby and brought the child to my first ten lessons. I don't know how I learned anything with a baby crying in the background! I moved on to a nice, neighborhood teacher who let me use any fingering that I wanted, and she didn't insist on accurate counting. I wasn't learning enough. My dad's older sister played piano and organ, and when she heard and saw me play, she insisted that my parents find a really good teacher for me.
Working with excellent teachers was a whole new game. I increased my piano practice from an hour a week to an hour a day. Two years after working with Sister Helen, St. Joseph's School of Music on the college campus of St. Catherine's in St. Paul, I gave my first full recital at fourteen years old. Two years later, I played the entire Rhapsody in Blue with my high school concert band. At age eighteen, I competed and won the honor of performing Schumann’s piano concerto with the 3M orchestra, and in the same year, won the Miss North St. Paul Pageant playing Rhapsody by Ernst von Dohnyani. At nineteen, I competed against twenty six other women at the Miss Minnesota Pageant and placed second runner-up to Dorothy Benham,who later went on that year (1976) to become Miss America in the national pageant.
Post pageants, I turned my focus to earning my college degrees. I majored in music/piano performance, graduating summa cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul, and then earned a master’s degree from BGSU, OH, graduating summa cum laude as a piano performance major with a concentration on piano pedagogy as a class piano teaching assistant. I received my most valuable instruction from Joanne Tierney, Donald Betts, Anna Bognar, Virginia Marks and Jerome Rose. Throughout my years of formal study, I competed in many other piano competitions, earning awards, scholarships and guest appearances with orchestras.
Professional Journey
While still in high school, I entered the teaching profession under the tutelage of my private instructor, giving lessons to neighboring children from my parent’s home. Upon graduating from Macalester, I auditioned at the music conservatory at Bowling Green State University and was awarded a full-ride scholarship for my master's program as a graduate teaching assistant in class piano. I taught undergraduate vocal, instrumental and music education majors, ten hours a week, in a large, class piano lab. Working under a talented class piano professor, I learned how to teach functional keyboard skills including standard chord/scale fingering and artistry, sight reading, common chord progressions, playing melodies by ear, harmonization, accompaniment styles, jazz chord voicings, and interpreting pop/jazz chord charts.
Following graduate school, I moved to Phoenix and worked as a staff accompanist at ASU and as an instructor of a preschool music program which I authored. After two years, I returned to my home state of Minnesota and over the next twelve years, taught private students and organized a piano school, hiring/training teachers and recruiting students. During non-studio hours, I worked at Century Community College in White Bear Lake as a class piano instructor, served as president of the St. Paul Piano Teachers Association, worked as a judge, writing critiques for contestants at various piano competitions around the state. I have enjoyed many other valuable experiences in my professional life including:
Working as a class piano instructor and opera theatre accompanist at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa
Performing special music in numerous churches for ceremonies and celebrations
Holding scores of piano recitals for students over five decades
Entering and coaching gifted students in competitions and piano exams
Serving on the board of the Carrollton Piano Teachers Association
Studying the Dorothy Taubman piano technique (the healthiest, artistic piano technique) with Carol Van Nostrand and Sheila Page
Performing a concerto written by a colleague with the Flower Mound Symphony in the DFW area
Performing public concerts and recitals in Minnesota, Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, London and Paris
Working at the ZACH Theatre in Austin, Tx as a Master Pianist, Artist Teacher
I began teaching online in 2016 when I moved from Flower Mound (Dallas area) to Austin. I had several students wanting to continue their study with me, so I began working with them on Skype and FaceTime. I was so grateful to have had this experience when the pandemic hit. On March 9th, 2020, I moved my entire studio online using Zoom and FaceTime.
In 2023, I moved from Austin to the Sarasota area in Florida. I retired from teaching children and since have been focusing on developing my accelerated, comprehensive adult piano course which places equal emphasis on Classical and Jazz music, relying heavily on scale and chord technique and theory which is common to both. My overarching goal is to prepare my students for a complete musical learning experience which will give them a lifetime of enjoyment through listening, playing and sharing their music with others.
Students pictured during their online private lessons!
From left to right, Jordan Peterson, Leo Tulchin and Reno Ancheta.
During a Zoom or FaceTime lesson, students have the option of using their phone, ipad, laptop, or even a desktop computer! Whatever device you use, I prefer having the screen off to the side so I can see your face, keyboard and hands. I position my screen in the same way so you can see the technique in my demonstrations.
An iPad or laptop may be best for you if you prefer seeing instruction over a bigger screen, but a phone does work!