Elementary

I've lived in the East Bay since 2002 with my wife and two children. Since then I've kept a very intimate studio of cellists aged 7-65. Due to my travel schedule, I've been only able to work with a small number of students. I hope to expand the studio this year in order to stay home with my family!

Uniquely trained in education as well as music; able to utilize additional training to help with overcoming stagefright and other challenges.

I switched from Trumpet to Saxophone major in college and went from not knowing how to put a sax together to playing professionally in St. Louis in 5 years. So, I really focus on the students goals and try to make it happen sooner rather than later. I also bring the real world of gigging and playing in public to my students. They learn how to play the tools to perform at a high level but I also show how to prepare for and get gigs. I teach Soprano, Alto and Tenor saxophones both classically and jazz instruction.

As a pianist my most valuable contribution probably comes from the Schnabel family. I studied with Karl Ulrich Schnabel for many years. I also studied with Ivan Moravec from whom I learned much about shaping melodic lines, as well as a love for Czech music. I am very interested in the cultural context of music - the world where composer lived and wrote - and try to share this enthusiasm with students.

I have extensive experience as a professional conductor, as an educator and as a private teacher.

I founded Redwood Symphony (www.redwoodsymphony.org) in 1985. I am still its Music Director as we approach our 25th anniversary. Together, we have performed very ambitious and unusual repertoire for an all-volunteer orchestra, including all of the Mahler symphonies and major works by Stravinsky, Bartok, Adams, Corigliano, and more. We have six CDs available on iTunes and amazon.com.

After studies with Alain Marion and Jean-Pierre Rampal in Paris and James Pappoutsakis at the New England Conservatory of Music, flutist Angela Koregelos made her professional solo debut in London's Wigmore Hall where the Times hailed "the freshness of her tone and the naturalness of her playing." She returned to the United States and became one of the youngest principal players of the Oakland Symphony where she was often featured as a soloist.

Find my complete bio and information about me and my teaching style at www.tomikoflute.com.

Flutist Meerenai Shim is an active performer and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. She enjoys teaching many excellent private flute students at the Meerenai Shim Flute School in Campbell and Mountain View. Her teaching is influenced by the principles of Body Mapping and the practical application of human anatomy to allow musicians to move freely while performing and practicing.

Meerenai is the author of "Scale Studies for Beginner and Intermediate Flutists" and stays busy with many chamber music performances as a founding member of the Blithe Duo, MJCP, and the Ibert Trio.

Lauren Cony received her B.A. in Piano from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, and a M.M. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has studied under Sharon Mann, Paul Hersh, Pola Baytelman, and Laurette Goldberg on harpsichord. As an avid chamber musician, she has performed in the US, Canada, and Europe, and has collaborated with such distinguished artists as clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. She teaches at the SF Conservatory and the SF Community Music Center, and maintains a busy private studio.