Teaching Philosophy
As an educator, Stephanie promises to do everything in her power to provide a safe, positive, affirming, educational, and challenging atmosphere for learning. Stephanie deeply believes that everyone is a creative and musical being, and that everyone has a unique musical voice that deserves to be heard. Everyone has the birthright to create music.
Stephanie is dedicated to furthering her teaching skills and music knowledge by being an active part of the Association of Body Mapping Educators, Oregon Music Teachers Association, and Music Teachers National Association. Stephanie is committed to practicing diligently and frequently engages with other musicians and musical performances that develop her personal and professional growth.
Stephanie encourages feelings of success and empowerment in an individual or group setting, and aims to create a balanced program of theory, technique, ear-training, sight-reading, empowerment through music, and performance opportunities. She is dedicated to making the process of learning and performing an instrument as inviting, exciting, and challenging as possible.
Stephanie welcomes piano students of all ages, abilities and genres to study with her over Zoom or at her home studio in SE Portland.
Please see more information by clicking on the link below!
TESTIMONIALS
"Stephanie is an amazing teacher to students of all levels and of all ages! Stephanie meets you where you are and can cater her teaching approach to accommodate different learning styles and what works best for you or your student. She is a wonderfully joyful and encouraging teacher, and her skills and talent are unmatched. You are in terrific hands literally and figuratively!" - Kristin C., age 40
"I like piano more because she's really friendly and I'm amazed at what I can play now" - Aiden, age 11
"Not only is Stephanie a talented and accomplished pianist (such a pleasure to listen to her!), but she is a gifted teacher - a quality that I think is the most important in a piano instructor (especially for children and teens). Stephanie is patient but motivating; she challenges students, and provides constructive criticism, but always lets the student know she has confidence in their abilities. Stephanie has also always emphasized the "joy" in music with my 2 kids. She acknowledges that learning how to play the piano can be hard work, but that it's also important to have fun - so she encouraged my kids to choose some of their own pieces to work on (in any genre), and agreed that sometimes its ok to take a break, or even be silly. My two children have relatively different learning styles, and I think Stephanie was able to accommodate that really well with her teaching methods. She is super professional, and just a super person all around!" - Andrea V., age 39
Madeline has been a student of Stephanie’s since she was 8 years old, and she’s 13 now! She enjoys competing in OMTA’s Syllabus program and loves pushing herself. This year, she’ll perform in an intermediate masterclass for the OMTA Conference in Ashland, Oregon.
"Stephanie is a truly exceptional teacher. I have been taking piano lessons for 2 years. I am 63 and had never played the piano but it was my dream to learn. Stephanie has made that dream come true. She engages you in the music and teaching with the result of enjoying the experience but learning in a meaningful way . I appreciate her pushing me gently at times to help me go beyond where I limit myself. I also have enjoyed the adult music sessions with her other pupils and recitals. These have been great ways to share music in the piano/music community.Stephanie is the kind of teacher that makes you want to learn and always makes you feel your potential to do that in way that is positive and fun." - Debbie H.
"Stephanie always pushes me to grow, even if I'm more comfortable in my comfort zone. She makes sure that I know that it's okay, even good, to make mistakes, and that it is a natural part of learning. She is very supportive of my personal endeavors, not just relating to piano. Since I started taking lessons from Stephanie, I have been much more enthusiastic about playing, and I have learned so much in the past two years with Stephanie than I ever have. Everyone should take lessons from Stephanie!" - Alice M., age 14
Featured with Stephanie are Ryan, Aiden and Kaitlyn Tabrah, a dynamic piano family that she has had the privilege of working with for over 10 years! Aiden has since gone on to college and received several music scholarships.
"She's a great musician and really nice and I really like her style." - Kaitlyn, age 7