I grew up in Yonkers, New York and was fortunate to study piano privately for six years with pianist Jean Wentworth. She studied at Juilliard and won the international Naumburg Competition. I also studied with Sarah Trinkaus for one year, when Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth were on a concert tour as a piano duo.
As piano accompanist, I performed with my elementary, junior high and high school choirs and orchestras, including a special choir performance in Manhattan. In addition, I sang in my church choir, and took dance and ballet lessons, including cotillion.
I have long been interested in music of the Romantic Era (approx. 1830-1900). In the 1970s I assisted concert pianist and writer Raymond Lewenthal with some of his research on Alkan, a remarkable French composer.
I earned a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College, then graduate degrees, and was a medical researcher for many years. Later I worked in a law firm and assisted with teaching in a ballroom dance studio. In 2008 I combined my love of music and teaching and began teaching piano. It's been a fascinating journey, in which I've been lucky to work with many fine students and their families.
I was also fortunate to study music theory and composition from 2013 to 2021 with Dr. Robert Boury, who was Professor of Music and Resident Composer at UALR for decades. A brilliant musician, during many of our lessons he would take a theme and improvise on it beautifully, or create music from names. He was especially gifted at harmony. Creative in many ways, "Dr. Bob" also wrote poetry and painted. It was a tremendous loss when he passed away on June 17, 2023, following a stroke. Fortunately for us, he lives on in his music, his other works of art, and the wide influence of his teaching. See "My Musical Lineage" on this website for more about Dr. Boury's teachers and their teachers.
Obituary: https://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2023/jun/22/dr-robert-bob-boury-2023-06-22/
As of August 2023 I've composed over 50 works, including piano solos, variations, etudes, a duet, and arrangements for students and church. Many of these pieces have teaching value, highlighting certain aspects of theory or technique.
In June of 2015 I joined the faculty of Adventures in the Arts, a fine arts academy at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church (PHUMC) in Little Rock. Now called the Music Academy at PHUMC, it's a wonderful school with many fine musician-teachers and scholarships for select students.
In July of 2022 I began playing piano for the worship services at Bethel UMC, a country church in Jacksonville, Arkansas, that dates back to the Civil War. Videos of the services are posted on the church's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1838453319554185
Each semester I host one or more recitals for my students and those of other teachers. Since 2008 I've been a member of the local, state and national music teachers associations, attend meetings, workshops and conferences, and am active locally, planning and producing student recitals and festivals. I've also served as a judge for the Little Rock Musical Coterie Junior Federation Festival, co-chaired the festival in May 2021, and chaired it in March 2022 and 2023.
I'm a member and Past President of the Music Teachers Association of Central Arkansas (MTACA), having served from June 2015 through May 2017, and am on their Board of Directors. I was 1st Vice-President from 2013 to 2015, and wrote and published their Yearbooks for 2013, 2014 and 2016. I chaired the annual MTACA Playathon from 2018 to 2022. During the Covid pandemic in December 2020, I created a virtual concert of student performances on MTACA's YouTube Channel. I also produced the festival outdoors at The Promenade at Chenal shopping center in October 2021 and 2022. These Playathons raised funds used for scholarships for students and their teachers.