Matthew P
5.0
(3)
Instruments: Piano
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Salsa, Showtunes, Spirituals, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Punk, Avant-garde
Matthew P
5.0
(3)
Instruments: Piano
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Salsa, Showtunes, Spirituals, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Punk, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 3-80
BM, Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Classical Piano Performance and Music Composition MM, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Jazz Studies
2013 - Invited Performer, Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival
2013 - Invited to perform with the Disneyland All-American College Band under Dr. Ron McCurdy (25 weekly performances on piano and percussion)
2011-2013 Artistic Excellence Scholarship, Indiana University
2010 - Overall Winner, Ben Heppner Concerto Competition, Wheaton College (George Gershwin's Concerto in F)
2011 - Invited to compose and perform a live soundtrack to a theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, with Long Island University
I am a pianist, composer, and educator who strives to bring out the best in all my students. I have composed for film, internet, and theatrical productions and performed across the country in classical and jazz contexts. I hold a masters degree in jazz studies from the Jacobs School of Music, where I studied with Luke Gillespie, Steve Houhgton, and David Baker. In the summer of 2013 I performed with the Disneyland All-American College Band. I have recently worked as music director and pianist at the Adderley School for the Performing Arts in Pacific Palisades, CA and as a private piano and composition teacher at the Joe Ferrante Music Academy in Monrovia, CA.
I have been teaching piano lessons for over a decade. I have held private studios in Seattle, WA, Wheaton, IL, Bloomington, IN, and now in the Torrance, CA area as well as taught group lessons, taught at the YaGe Community Arts School in Kunming, China, and taught at the Joe Ferrante Music Academy in Monrovia. I have extensive experience teaching the full gamut of the classical repertoire, traditional and contemporary jazz, pop, R&B, and rock. I also do transcriptions and arrangements of pieces if my students want to learn a piece for which there is no sheet music. I also teach improvisation, music theory, and composition. Whatever excites my students, challenges them, and helps them be their most musical is what I focus on.
With beginning and intermediate students, I work a lot with Faber and Faber's Piano Adventures and with the Alfred method. However, I am open to other methods if the student has a preference. With advanced students I strive towards a variety of repertoire. If they are classical players, I will make sure to eventually cover something Baroque, Classical (Mozart, Haydn, etc.), Romantic, and something modern, as well as all the gaps in between. I also like to incorporate improvisation into my teaching method, from very simple improvisational patterns for beginners to jazz improvisation for advanced students. I think teaching beginners that music does not always come off of a page is an important concept and can free them up to be their most creative selves, to feel connected to the music, and to be able to focus on creating a relaxed and natural technique.
I believe in a balance between challenging my students and encouraging them. Students are at their very best when they feel affirmed and empowered, but also when the teacher is aware of their full potential and pushes them to achieve that. I believe in a very detailed approach where I am actuely aware of each of the student's particular strengths and areas for improvement and closely monitor their progress in areas of technique, musicality, expression, articulation, facility, and finesse. Nothing is more fun than realizing that we can achieve greater things than we ever thought we could!
Gregory Chambers
He does a really good job with my son who enjoys the piano lessons.
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