What do you teach at the Con?
Piano.
What genres do you teach?
Classical.
What is it that you love about teaching music – particularly at Wollongong Conservatorium?
I love teaching students how to find enjoyment in all piano music from different periods. Learning the history of piano music, approaching each piece from different angles, telling a pieces “story” through musical expression; I see each piece as a puzzle or a riddle that we can try and answer in our own unique way, hopefully without the composer giants rolling their eyes in disapproval! Wollongong Con offers a beautiful soundscape for music students to thrive in. The beautiful surrounds, so close to nature, (especially the native birds) is the perfect environment to inspire musical ideas!
Please share a particular career highlight and why it’s special to you.
A number of my students over the years have completed their performance education on piano and have decided to teach piano themselves. I have always tried to reveal my teaching ideas and processes to my students, so that one day, if they choose, they too might love teaching as I do, just as I learned from my own teachers. It’s so fantastic when this happens.
What’s one piece of music that you’d recommend people listen to?
La cathédral engloutie. By Debussy.