My Teaching Philosophy:
On Being an Artist-Teacher 

Palomar College is a teaching institution.  That is, unlike other school of higher education, the faculty devote the majority of their time to teaching.  This means that the faculty have a special commitment to the professional of teaching, and are very experienced and dedicated teachers.

My own work at Palomar College can be best described as that of an artist-teacher.  That is, I fill two roles in my career – both that of teacher and that of performing artist.  I consider my piano playing and active concert career as vital to my success as a teacher.  And I consider my teaching as an inspiration for my playing.  Artist-teachers are hybrids, they span the world of performance by giving recitals, playing with orchestras, making public appearances, and yet they also spend time in the classroom and studio, engaged in the work of passing their art on to the next generation of musicians.

The Artist in Residence Program at Palomar College enables me to give a series of recitals and performances of various kinds each academic year as a part of my duties.

For more information on the Artist in Residence Program, see that section of my web page.  What I want to say here is that I am a firm believer that the best way students of music learn is by the living example of their teacher’s playing.  It is one thing for me to talk about performing, and quite another to see me actually demonstrate what I’m talking about in my own recitals and appearances.

Over the years at Palomar, I’ve tried to combine these two roles in as many ways as possible.  Sometimes, as I’ve stated, I give the traditional walk-on-stage, sit-down-and-play recital.  Other times, I give lecture-recitals, where I explain the repertoire I’m playing, and illustrate with musical examples some of the pieces the audience will hear.

I’ve also improvised on stage, both by myself, and for our modern dance students.

Recently I’ve been engaged in creating theatre pieces of an inter-disciplinary nature, where I’ve created the sound track, and improvisational music for the production.

In all of these endeavors, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about playing the piano, and what I’ve learned, I’ve tried to share with my students.  Nothing gives me deeper satisfaction that to hear one of my music students say “I learned so much from watching you play.  It really helped me to understand what you were talking about in class.”