Teacher

Music Classes, Creativity, and Responsibility

My main objective is to provide students with the tools and resources needed to discover their musical selves, to encourage them to perform with confidence, whether in a classroom, or in front of an audience. My students are involved in the selection and arrangement of material. The teamwork and interpretation skills that go into the performance and creation of music are highly valued, and my classes often start with critical listening sessions, followed up with discussion, inquiry, and technical demonstrations.

Due to early involvement in musical theatre, the voice was my first instrument, but the guitar has been my primary non-vocal instrument for many years. I ask students to develop their own methodologies when learning instruments, to acquire techniques that when practiced with care and diligence can extend into any avenue of musical study they should choose to pursue. Some students want to learn how to accompany themselves, and so keeping parts rhythmically and harmonically sound is stressed. Others see potential for beautiful ensemble instrumental music, while the individualists like to pursue paths of pure invention and virtuosity. All of it has a place. It is my wish for them to discover their own musical voice.
I use the piano/keyboards as an accompanying instrument for student choral work, and teach using it as a compositional tool, and as a foundation instrument for understanding melodic and harmonic theory. I love playing the piano and also using keyboards and midi-based applications/synthesizers. Because of my passion for playing and improvisation more than my minimal keyboard abilities, I was often asked to contribute parts to student projects while studying production at Nimbus School of Recording Arts.

Vocal Music

I directed school choirs and taught choral classes in Canada from 1997-2003, and from 2004-2009 in Japan. Students develop correct posture, breathing, dynamics, intonation, while also improving their English pronunciation and vocabulary. Since 1992, I have had students from vastly different backgrounds, languages, and cultural perspectives. They have been introduced to contemporary and traditional folk, pop, classical, jazz, and world music, helped to arrange and modify parts while also experimenting with new sounds and musical vocabulary to structure their own compositional ideas.

Between 2004 and 2009, I organized and directed five Christmas Concerts at Canadian International School in Tokyo. Theses Christmas concerts were very special events, with involvement from all K-12 students, teacher participation, organization and stage management, and also a great deal of support from parents, staff and administration. They felt like the best of family celebrations, and were always looked forward to as such. Additional Spring Concerts and International day Performances were more informal, but festive, energetic and fun.

As much of my musical experience has come through the recording process as it has through live performance. I have tried my best to integrate what I have learned as a performing singer-songwriter and recording artist with my teaching platforms. It is an approach that keeps me connected to what I teach on both a practical and theoretical level, and it keeps me searching for new and relevant ideas to share.