Music has been and will be a mainstay in my life. I’ve been playing the piano for nearly 50 years and giving private piano lessons since I was in my late teens.

My music education began when as a 4-year old, my parents enrolled me in a Yamaha group course. At 6, I started attending formal individual piano lessons. I remember with great fondness and gratitude those early years — vivid memories of weekly trips to my teacher’s home, doing A Dozen Exercises A Day, practising pieces from John Thompson’s books and learning to play by ear ‘The Prisoner’s Song’ (my grandfather’s favourite).

I went on to complete my Grade 8 exam with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in my mid-teens and subsequently attained a diploma in music from the Trinity College of London. Those later years required more discipline and persistence, but also expanded my musical knowledge, technique and range exponentially. And always, there was the joy of making music and of expressing one’s self through the beautiful medium of the piano.

Apart from my music qualifications, I’m also a trained school teacher (BA Hons, MA, Post-graduate Diploma in Education) registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching. My experience teaching in schools has helped me to understand the process of learning better – specifically, how to motivate students and how to sustain their interest. These are skills and knowledge that I apply to individual piano teaching as well.