Remarkable Conference Experience

(For my students/parents, this past week’s lesson was all about my recent conference experience. I’ve been sending the below message out by email to a number of other people, and it seemed worth sharing more broadly, so that’s all I’m doing here in the newsletter this month!)

Earlier this week, I returned from the annual Simply Music teachers’ conference in San Jose, California. It was my first such experience, and in so many ways it made me realize that the Simply Music piano method is even more remarkable than I’d already known it to be. From the ways it teaches different aspects of music to how it fosters the very learning process itself, it is just extraordinary how well is cultivates music — and personal growth — for people.

Indeed, one of the highlights of the conference was a recital put on by the two very experienced teachers who planned the conference. The founder of Simply Music said afterward that it was like nothing he’d ever seen. The morning afterward, we all learned that more than half of the students performing there had special needs. Autism. Asperger syndrome. Developmental delays. One student had just two fingers on her right hand, and another was blind and mostly deaf. Except for the blind and deaf girl who’d had to be led to the piano, we would not have known anything about the rest, other than that these were students with command over their pieces — including many very sophisticated pieces — and comfort performing in front of a very large audience. It solidified for me that if this is what’s possible for them, then truly so much is possible for everyone using this method. And by offering it as I do online in addition to in person, it’s possible for even more people than ever before.

I teach a truly remarkable piano learning method, and I’m proud to do it. It not only brings music to anyone who wants it — it changes lives. I just wanted to share that with you.

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