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Bachelor of Music (Performance on Clarinet) - Brisbane, Australia
Graduate Diploma of Professional Music Practice - Hobart, Australia
Certificate I & II in the Arts - Gold Coast, Australia
I am a very enthusiastic Clarinet teacher with over 14 years of teaching experience. I moved to NYC from Melbourne, Australia in December 2013, and started my career here as a Clarinet Teacher and Band Director in various schools. I have always had a strong passion for teaching and performing. I lead by example and believe that a passionate approach to teaching and learning is infectious.
My teaching career started when I was studying to become an orchestral musician at University. I was asked to teach clarinet as a second instrument to my peers. At the time I was not interested in a teaching career. However, 6 months later I noticed that my students were rapidly excelling and I found myself devoting all my time to teaching others and writing a tutor book on how to teach clarinet as a second instrument. This lead me to a career in teaching at various schools and colleges in Brisbane (where I studied) and then Melbourne (where I lived for the past 9 years). I have travelled the world and studied with various teachers across the globe. I take pride in my teaching and success of my students. I have taught the clarinet for 14 years privately, in groups, bands, orchestras, musicals, colleges, primary and high schools, public schools, private schools, weekend music programs (such as Melbourne Youth Music), and camps (such as State Music Camp).
Over the years I've discovered that taught properly from day one, anyone can play the clarinet with ease! The clarinet is typically known as being a troublesome instrument to learn, but I have found that this is only due to poor hand technique and poor embouchure. Squeaks and squawks are only due to fingers not covering the holes, or too much mouth piece in the mouth. It is a priority of mine to make sure the student can produce a quality sound on their instrument, (for themselves, for myself and everyone else who gets to listen to them practice).
Music lessons can be very boring if there is not the right balance of things taught. I always make sure that each lesson incorporates a mixture of technical work specific to the clarinet, scales, note and rhythm reading, basic clarinet repertoire, well known pieces, unknown pieces and sight reading. Once my student has built up enough skills I then encourage them to join community/school bands and/or orchestras. I take pride in leading students into the wonderful world of music.