Dear Friends, Greetings from Charlottesville, VA, where we are sightseeing for a few days before going to visit family in central PA. It's nice to have the chance to see a different part of the country, and also travel just for fun, without the added pressure of playing a concert, presenting at a conference, or teaching at a festival. This week I’ve been thinking about Mozart. We all know him as a composer, but what kind of teacher was he? I’ve been pondering this question in the context of a...
27 days ago • 4 min read
Dear Friends, In case you noticed that last week's newsletter never came (and, let's face it, I'm sure most of you probably didn't 😂), I skipped writing the newsletter in order to prepare for Piano Camp, which took place this past week on the campus of Butler University. One of the flashbulb memories that has stayed with me from the week was seeing all of the students crowded around the harpsichord on the stage of the recital hall, while Matt, our piano technician, showed them in great detail...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Dear Friends, I'm writing to you from an airplane, taking advantage of some free Wi-Fi. I'm en route to New York to visit a friend in Brooklyn for her birthday. For those of you who are keeping track, my Fanny Hensel recording was rescheduled to October, which gives me a glorious feeling of freedom. I look forward to continuing to refine and practice it over the summer as I prepare for the recording sessions in the fall. This week I've been thinking about what I've come to know as the Three...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Dear Friends, A few weeks ago I had lunch with a former student of mine who finished her master’s degree a couple of years ago. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and I was looking forward to catching up and hearing how things were going. It was wonderful to see her again. And what I was especially glad to hear was that in the short time since graduating, she is already sustaining herself through a full, active, and varied professional life as a musician, while at the same time continuing to...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Dear Friends, A few weeks ago I gave a talk for a piano teacher group at the Kawai Piano Gallery of Detroit, Michigan. The room where I gave my presentation had colorful portraits on the walls. Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Brahms, Schumann, Debussy, Chopin: all famous composers, lining two of the walls and looking down at us. I noticed them as I was setting up and preparing to speak, and it made me think about how familiar those faces are to us: even though I had never seen those particular...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Dear Friends, It's the day after Commencement at Butler University. The past couple of weeks have been filled with farewell rituals and gatherings. Four of my piano students graduated this weekend. One of them, Cora, will be starting her master of music in piano performance and piano pedagogy at Southern Methodist University in the fall. She had her pick of programs, auditioning at six different schools and getting accepted with full rides at all six! Another student, Sally, finished with her...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Dear Friends, Quick note before we start: we still have spaces available at Butler Piano Camp this June 15-19. It's on Butler's campus here in Indianapolis for piano students entering grades 7 through 12. It will be a week of lessons, practice, seminars, alongside other serious young pianists. If you know a young pianist who might be interested, please spread the word: we'd love to work with them! [Details and registration here.] Now, on to today’s topic: the difference between hearing and...
3 months ago • 5 min read
Dear Friends, Quick note before we get started: next Sunday, April 26th, I'll be performing Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's Das Jahr on the Pleyel Series at the Scarab Club in Detroit. If you're in the area, I would love to see you there! [Ticket information here.] Anyway, today I have a bit of news to share: next year, during the full 2026-27 academic year, I'll be taking a sabbatical from Butler University. As this academic year winds down (we have just 1 week of classes left), I find myself...
3 months ago • 5 min read
Dear Friends, We’re in the final couple of weeks of the semester, which means it’s recital season! Last week I drove to Cincinnati for Briana’s senior recital (I’m her instructor of record, remotely), and then yesterday was Cora’s senior recital. Today is the studio recital where all of my students will play, and then next week will be Bella’s senior recital. And then two weeks from today, I’ll be performing Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Das Jahr in Detroit at the Scarab Club, on a historic...
3 months ago • 3 min read