More than Music came about five years ago when I started my own music studio within our home after getting married in the summer of 2019. Before this, I was in graduate school for piano pedagogy and worked for many independent studios as well as music schools. Getting married and starting a family encouraged me to continue my teaching within the comfort of my own home. The name ‘More than Music’ sheds light on my teaching philosophy. Rather than just learning to play a piece of music well, I value even more fostering a love of learning piano, discipline, and pushing oneself to create beautiful music. Founding piano pedagogue Francis Clark said this, “Teach the student first, the music second, and the piano third.” I love this because all my students are unique and face different challenges that I find a privilege to learn and adapt to. When I am able to meet my students' needs, I believe I can better introduce them to the exciting world of making music through piano learning. Ultimately, music is a gift of creativity from the greatest Creator of all time, and my passion is to steward this gift of learning well and pass along the love of creating something beautiful to in turn praise the One who created all things beautiful.
I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC where my mother was my first piano teacher and still teaches piano today. I grew up playing both the piano and violin, starting the piano at age 5 and the violin at age 7. I began teaching the piano and violin with my mom when I was in high school and have since taught in studios ranging from a few dozen students to music schools with a few hundred students. I completed a bachelor's degree in both piano performance and arts management at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC in 2015, and in 2017, I received a Master of Arts degree in piano pedagogy from Texas Christian University. I met my husband in Texas, and we moved to Charlotte, NC after he graduated from seminary in 2019. We got married shortly after, and I started More than Music Studio within our home in the summer of 2019. Then, in the beginning of 2022, we moved to Virginia, and More than Music Studio has moved along with us. Our family has grown, and we now have three boys - Elikai (3), Asaph (2), and Levi, who was born in January 2024. We are excited for what God has in store for More than Music in the coming years.
I desire that this studio and the lessons I teach exude with discovery learning where every student engages in the process of learning and understands for themselves the technical and musical makeup of everything they do. I hope this journey of learning music together drives each student to become intrinsically motivated to practice and persevere to enjoy performing for others. What a gift music is, and I am here to encourage my students to share their progress and music with those around them.