Until the age of 12, when I was not occupied with schoolwork, I rode my bicycle to the nearest rivers and creeks to search for frogs and turtles, I visited the library and read all I could find on the habits and habitat of these and other creatures native to Southeastern Wisconsin. Some of that must have rubbed off on my son who is a botanist at the Morton Arboretum. When I was in seventh grade, a boys choir was started at the grade school I attended and so began my lifelong love of...
Until the age of 12, when I was not occupied with schoolwork, I rode my bicycle to the nearest rivers and creeks to search for frogs and turtles, I visited the library and read all I could find on the habits and habitat of these and other creatures native to Southeastern Wisconsin. Some of that must have rubbed off on my son who is a botanist at the Morton Arboretum. When I was in seventh grade, a boys choir was started at the grade school I attended and so began my lifelong love of music, especially singing and playing piano. I began to study piano and organ in high school. After I graduated from college in 1969, for five years I taught music in a primary school for children from kindergarten through grade 5. During this time I studied two summers at the Dalcroze School of Music in New York City where I became certified to teach the approach to music education developed by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. His approach includes special activities in rhythmic movement , ear training, and musical improvisation. Since the Dalcroze movement activities are an excellent way for dancers to learn about music, I taught Dalcroze Eurhythmics for four years in the Dance Department of the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee. I obtained my PhD in music education at the University of Kentucky in 1990. My dissertation was titled "Key-finding, fingering, and timing tasks in entry-level piano performance of children". My minor was in statistics because I wanted to do research in the psychology of musical learning and since 1996 I have made my living as a statistical programmer in the pharmaceutical industry. When I left Lexington, Kentucky in 1998, I left about 40 piano students, many of whom I had taught from pre-school to high school. I still correspond with some and one, who is now an adult and an accomplished guitarist, recently took several months of voice lessons with me via Skype so that he could feel more confident in singing with his rock and roll band.
Looking to the future I expect to transition gradually from full-time employment as a statistical programmer to self-employment as a teacher of music and movement for children ages 3 to 6, singing and piano lessons for all ages, and as a tutor in statistics and statistical programming. Since 2002 I have taken singing lessons now and then with Valerio Paperi in Rome, Italy. In 2011 I obtained Vocology certification from the Center for Voice and Speech in Salt Lake City, Utah. I frequently adjudicate singing auditions for the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. I sing with the Chicago Master Singers. Since 2013 I have given presentations in Europe and Canada on applications of the Dalcroze approach in learning to play piano.
I teach in a way that enables the student to develop a solid understanding of the connection between the mathematical basis of statistics and its application in studying real world topics. I tutored graduate level students in statistics at the University of Kentucky including helping some to do the statistical analysis of the data collected for their Masters Degree theses. I have worked for 20 years as a statistical programmer in the pharmaceutical industry.
In my piano teaching, creative work which develops the musical ear and sense of rhythm is given more attention than mechanical, repetitious exercises for fingers. My training as a Dalcroze specialist and years of experience teaching students of all ages enables me to bring high quality music making into my students' lives. For singers, besides what is listed in my bio, I should mention that I have passed two levels of Estill training and I am currently studying with William Powers, a bass baritone with a distinguished career performing in many of the greatest opera houses of the world.
Please contact me so I can come to know what your specific interests and background are. Together we can find out whether we make a good student-teacher match. Also if you want to begin lessons with me, we can discuss scheduling.
