The Studio Of Dr. Linda Govel

Pianist and Instructor

D.M.A., University of Southern California

Dr. Linda Govel earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California. While at USC, she studied Piano Performance, Music Education, Music Theory, Music History and Entrepreneurial studies. Dr. Govel graduated with honors and is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Honors Society. She is affiliated with numerous professional organizations and adjudicates regularly for the Music Teacher's Association of California, the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Southern California Junior Bach Festival (Complete Works), Armenian Allied Arts Association, and the American College of Musicians (National Piano Guild), just to name a few.

Dr. Govel has had over thirty years of teaching experience. She draws from her first hand experiences as an early childhood educator and being a mother of two children in her work. An expert teacher in her field, she specializes in the development of the young pianist. Her preference is to train children as young as age three. Likewise, she specializes in teaching kids with all learning disabilities or disorders. Her program is extremely successful in teaching autistic children and creates a very nurturing yet stimulating environment in which they grow musically and become confident and successful in music.

Her students have won prestigious awards, including Artists of the Future Concerto Competition, Bellflower Concerto Competition, Long Beach Mozart Festival Concerto Competition, Concerto Fest Austria, MTAC Scholarship Auditions, the SCJ Bach Festival, SCJ Bach Regionals, SCJ Bach "Complete Works", MTAC Panel Honors Competitions, MTAC Panel Finalists, MTAC Certificate of Merit Branch Honors Recitals, MTAC Convention recitals, MTAC Senior Medallion Recitals, Composers Today State Contest, several monetary prizes in the CAPMT District III Sonata/Sonatina Competition, top three winners in the MTNA State Contemporary Music Festival, Duet teams showcased in the CAPMT Southern Festival, numerous trophies at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, including the Young Pianist Concerto Competition, numerous Top Talent ratings in the National Piano Guild Auditions, including Paderewski Medal recipients, National PTA Reflections winners at the school, District and Regional levels, and a flawless success rate with the Advanced Placement Music test. She is currently a Vendor for the Sage Oak Charter Schools and teaches students Keyboard Studies and AP Music Theory for Ambassador High School. Her students go on to pursue music careers in piano performance or other music related majors at universities across the country. Some of her students have performed and taught in Europe and Canada. She is currently in high demand as a successful piano instructor in Southern California due to her high success rate, team mentality and strong family teaching atmosphere.

Dr. Govel began her early piano studies with Christy (Eberhardt Stewart) Dolan before embarking on her professional career. Later she studied with Nina Skolnik at the University of California, Irvine on scholarship, earning a Bachelor Degree in Music (Piano Performance). She began her graduate studies with Edith Hirshtal (Artist Diploma and student of Leon Fleisher), at California State University, Long Beach to earn a Master Degree in piano performance. The department of Music honored Govel with an Outstanding Keyboard Award for her research and the world; U.S. and L.A. premiere performances of Alban Berg's Selected Early Piano Pieces. She gave a lecture recital on her findings, and the University newspaper, Inside CSULB, wrote an article about her research and honors followed by doctoral studies at USC with renowned pianist, Bernadene Blaha.

While pursuing her doctoral degree at USC, Govel worked as an assistant lecturer in the music department. She taught Fundamentals of Music Theory and Music Appreciation classes in addition to supervising education majors in teaching music in the classrooms. As a result of her effective teaching, the university, in conjunction with the American Language Institute, made a permanent archive of instructional videos of Govel's teaching in order to train future Instructional Teaching Assistants in the art of university level instruction. In addition, Dr. Govel toured locally with the group mUSiC~works, under the guidance of renowned pianist, Dr. Laura Spitzer. Govel was selected to present her research "The Relationship Between Continued Piano Study and Parental Involvement," at The 2000 Southeastern Music Education Symposium, held at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia.

Recently, Dr. Govel lectured for the teachers of the Music Teachers' Association, Long Beach Branch on the topic of her Dissertation, "An examination of the types of parental involvement among piano student dropouts" (2004). The lecture discussed ways to incorporate her research into her teaching methods and analyzed reasons why students quit piano and offered tips for prevention. Dr. Govel was honored to do a Master class for the Glendale Branch of the MTAC at the Steinway Gallery Pasadena last year. In addition, Dr. Govel has accepted the role of chairperson for the Palos Verdes Peninsula, California branch of the National Piano Guild this year.

As a professional pianist, Govel performs regularly as a soloist, accompanist, and studio musician. She has performed for Menahem Pressler, Kevin Fitzgerald, Martin Katz, Daniel Pollack and Li Minqiang in master classes and has accompanied such singers as Broadway performer Suzan Hanson (Soprano), Marianna Giordano (Mezzo soprano), Marya Basaraba (Soprano), Elisabeth Howard (Coloratura Soprano), Steven Plummer (Tenor), Christopher Campbell (Tenor), Michelle Sarkezian (Soprano), Cynthia Snyder (Soprano), Norbert Gleissner (Bass Baritone), and legendary soprano, Carol Neblett. In addition, Dr. Govel has performed for Grammy Award winner Michael Kamen, the Kawai America Corporation, Dennis Castellano, and bassist Mike Watt, in countless venues.

Besides teaching, Dr. Govel is an avid tennis player and competes regularly for the United States Tennis Association. Dr. Govel is a native of Los Angeles, and currently resides with her husband and two children in Rolling Hills Estates, California.