Elementary

I am a pianist/composer living in San Francisco with 30 years of experience teaching piano privately, at all levels and ages. I have coached middle school and high school-aged chamber musicians for about 15 years. I start beginners with a foundation in theory and technique, in addition to repertoire material. I have prepared students for various levels of ABRSM exams. My goal is to provide a relaxed, though disciplined approach. I teach remotely, via Skype or FaceTime. Website: https://janismercer.com.

Victor Skidanenko started guitar at 6, banjo at 10, and Mandolin at 16, and has studied with Jack Tuttle, Keith Little, Mike Compton, and many others.

My career in music began as a piano prodigy. At age sixteen, I was selected to be an apprentice teacher to a protege of Rosina Lhevinne of Juilliard, and personally taught children and adults. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at Stanford University (studying piano and chamber ensemble with Adolf Baller), I studied chamber ensemble and performed in a piano trio at USC. I have taught piano privately for over sixteen years. I prefer to maintain a boutique practice, will travel to student homes, and I customize my methods for the needs and interests of my students.

Cellist Mary Artmann has recently returned to the Bay Area after a twenty-year hiatus. She has been free-lancing with various ensembles among them are the Empyrean Ensemble, the Fresno Philharmonic, the Monterey Symphony, and the Santa Rosa Symphony. Ms. Artmann spent the past five years as a member of the award winning Veronika String Quartet, in Residence at Colorado State University-Pueblo. She has taught at CSU-Pueblo, Mercyhurst College, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Hartwick College Summer Music Festival and Bennington College July Program. Ms.

A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in music, Ginger Rombach-Adams has performed and taught in the Bay Area for over 35 years. She is a member of the Monterey Bay Symphony and has been a member of the Ohlone Wind Orchestra, San Jose Municipal Band, Fremont Symphony, Western Symphony and numerous other groups, but her first love is chamber music. She has performed several solo recitals with her favorite accompanist, Steve Lightburn, and in 1997 she won the Palo Alto Philharmonic Solo Competition.

I love the harp and I hope to instill that love into the students I teach. I mostly teach beginners of all ages. I belong to one of the largest harp studios in the bay area. So student can start with me and go on to one of the other teachers for advanced work, either in the folk harp area or pedal harp area. Students have the opportunity to perform in a yearly recital as well as performing in ensemble in Harpeggio's "20 Harps for the Holidays" Winter Concert. Students don't have to perform in front of others, if they don't want to.

I am the Education Director at MoonSchool, the educational arm of 42nd Street Moon Theatre Company. We have a range of classes available for both private students and ensembles. I teach private voice lessons along with Moon's resident MD, Dave Dobrusky. The emphasis of our lessons tend to be focused on audition material, singing for pleasure/practice and preparation for events.

Melissa Smith performs solo recitals and collaborates with pianists, singers, instrumentalists, theater groups, and opera companies throughout the Bay Area. Her teaching practice emphasizes fostering "musical imagination" and strives to bring out the inner musician in each child at every lesson. Her studio has grown through word-of-mouth from fewer than ten in 1995 to over thirty devoted students today. Smith teaches students on their own instruments in the familiar surroundings of their own homes, which fosters enhanced progress at the piano in each student.

I believe that a solid classical foundation on any instrument in essential to learning to play your instrument well. I have studied with the greatest flutists in the world: Julius Baker, Jean Pierre Rampal, Bob Willoughby, Tom Nyfenger and others, and played in many different idioms: Symphony Orchestra, Contemporary Ensembles performing new music, Jazz and Improvised styles, Brazilian Choro, Samba, Bossa Nova, and Latin Jazz. I have regular workshops for my students, divided into beginners/intermediates and advanced.