CMZWAHLEN STUDIO At COTTON PLACE

First, my students make my service stand out. When they arrive, they can't wait to sit at the piano.

I am a classically trained pianist. I studied with Ocy L Downs, Portland Me, the Grand Dame of piano in Portland. She emphasized technique. I also studied with Maria Balling, Boston, MA, an Austrian Professor, and adjudicator. Before WWII she was a protege of Toscanini.

Although I am classically trained, I do not teach one method for all my students, nor do I limit them to one music genre. While I also emphasize technique, I also teach artitisty which means telling a story with sound or expressing an emotion. Playing technique without artistry is the same as listening to someone read a story in monotone.

My students successfully auditioned to play the keyboard for their school's jazz band and performed in another school ensembles and musical events. They prepared for a fall and spring recital. When one recital ended, they asked when our next one is? Loved it!

Since 2006, I have had the joy of working with children, teens, and adults, of all abilities and personalities. I have successfully worked with students who struggle with attention deficit by making up exercises or games to help them focus. I have also worked with stroke victims who at one time played the piano and wanted to play again. It works. When a student who couldn't focus, one day sits at the piano and performs the entire piece by memory, the smile on their face says it all.

What I enjoy the most about my work is watching my students learn t love music. I often hear a parent say before you were my son or daughters piano teacher, I had to drag my son or daughter to the piano to practice. Now they are eager and go by themselves.