Nova - Teacher #2572

Instruments:
- Composition
- Piano

Services:
- Composition
- Dictation
- Ear Training
- Harmony
- Music Theory (Advanced)
- Music Theory (Beginner-Intermediate)

Languages:
- English

Teaching Philosophy

I teach piano and voice lessons with a classical foundation, but I welcome students to explore the genres that they like best and I'm happy to explore lessons centered around or blended with other musical areas, such as music theory, songwriting, and arranging.

I do not use punishments in my classroom and I use rewards very sparingly. At the same time, I do not tolerate disrespectful or uncooperative behaviour from my students. My disciplinary approach is founded on mutual respect, clear communication, and intrinsic motivation. My goal is to help my students find their own joy in music, and to help smooth over anything that might be getting in their way. Each student's personal experience with lessons is important to me. I do my best to make lessons fun and productive, and I do not pressure students to continue lessons if they aren't benefitting from them.

I teach students ages 5 and above, with no exceptions. Music is a very high-concept skill, and learning it before the brain has had enough time to develop can be a frustrating experience for everyone involved. As a neurodivergent and queer person, I aim to accommodate the unique learning style of every student, which includes abled and disabled students, and genders of every kind.

Musical Education

I have a Grade 8 certificate in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Music Composition from Western University. I've taught/tutored for most of my life, but I started teaching music as a full-time career in February 2022.

Awards and Distinctions

I got multiple awards in both high school and university, most of which came with a financial prize, but it's unlikely you'd know them by name, even if you went to the same schools that I did. In fact, I didn't win the big-name award in my high school's music department, which left most of my classmates deeply confused. Multiple people approached me and asked how I felt about it. Little did they know, I won the secret award that was the only one that came with money. Needless to say, between the social status and the scholarship, I was happy with the one I got.

Special Skills and Training

I have experience performing in a wide variety of contexts, including solo voice and piano, large and small scale instrumental and choral ensembles, and more casual groups, such as cabaret-style music events, live street music, and coffeehouse solos. I have also coordinated performances of my own original pieces in styles such as experimental modern art music and chamber choral/instrumental works. If those examples are too dry, you might be more interested to know that I arranged music for a bollywood/pop fusion band: the Bollywood Monster Orchestra from the music festival Bollywood Monster Mashup in Mississauga. Some of my other favourite musical memories are travelling around the city with my high school jazz band to show off our school's music program to elementary schools in the area and singing the Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker with a full orchestra. In short, if you think of any music-related activity, there's a chance I've tried it at least once.

Rates

30 Minutes: $39.00
45 Minutes: $49.00
60 Minutes: $59.00

There is a one-time registration fee of 25 $ charged with the first lessons. All Taxes are included in prices, if applicable

NOTE: Your Credit card will be charged ONLY when the first lesson is set up and confirmed with the teacher

Policies


1. Cancellation Policy

Lessons not cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice are billable to the client and payable to the teacher. This does not of course apply to travel fees unless the notice is effectively given at the door and the teacher has travelled to the location.

2. Cessation (quitting) Policy

A client must provide a 2 lesson notice period to stop lessons. So a weekly student needs to give 2 weeks of notice, a biweekly student works out to 3 weeks notice and a twice weekly student works out to a week of notice.

3. Illness Policy

Lessons cancelled due to illness or extraordinary circumstances with less than 24 hours notice remain billable to the client and payable to the teacher.

BAH teachers are encouraged to offer a make-up lesson at a future date in the interest of client relations and general goodwill. This only makes sense as teaching a student with the flu for example, will ruin the rest of your week's employment.

No more than 2 lessons may be made up due to illness within a 60 day period.

4. Rescheduling Policy

Any lesson can be cancelled or rescheduled with at least 24 hours notice.

Summer Vacation and Extended Absence Policy

Clients may schedule longer absences for trips etc. 24 hours notice is required.

It is normal and typical for students and about 20% of our teachers to schedule a break in the summer. We do not enforce a notice period (see cessation of lessons) at the end of a long summer break.

5. Evaluation Period

There are no free trial lessons with Beethoven at Home but we do offer a 2 lesson evaluation period where it is easy to try out a teacher. There are no free lessons during the evaluation period and clients may choose to discontinue the lessons at any time by providing the required 24 hours notice. After the student's 3rd lesson the required 2 lesson notice period will apply (see cessation of lessons above).

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