Piano & Keyboard
Our Piano staff all have at least a masters degree in piano performance or pedagogy. Our associate piano staff have bachelor degrees or minor in piano. The Certificate of Merit program which is held by the Music Teachers Association of California shapes much of our standard curriculum, providing a steady diet of standard repertoire, music theory, scales and chord progressions, sight reading, playing by ear (aural training) as part of their weekly lesson. While this program is not for everyone, it is an option that is presented to most grade school students who choose to study with us.
At the heart we focus on a student’s enjoyment and appreciation of music and private study allows each student to go at their pace and once the basics are mastered, may choose the type of repertoire they play.
Our teaching staff have backgrounds in classical, jazz, pop music fields, and even video game composition. We accept students from the age of 3 years old who show an ability to follow instructions and sit with concentration for a period of at least 15 minutes.
Solo performance opportunities include at least 2 recitals per year, in house master classes, numerous citywide, statewide, national and international festivals. Standardized examination opportunities include participation in Certificate of Merit exams, ABRSM programs, Royal Conservatory programs.
Ensemble studies and performance opportunities include participation in jazz ensembles, worship bands, and learning to accompany soloists.
Recommended Lesson Books:
age 3 FJH My First Piano Adventure
age 4 FJH Piano Adventures
age 5 and up: Alfred, KJOS Bastien Piano Basics
age 10 and up FJH Accelerated Piano Adventures
age 16 and up: FJH Piano Adventures for Adults, Alfred
Our Piano Department
holds a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Southern California. He has taught as an adjunct piano faculty at New York University's Steinhardt School and as a private piano instructor at USC and Oberlin Conservatory. His students have won numerous international piano competitions including the Orbetello International Piano Competition (Italy), AMIGDALA International Piano Competition (Italy), Verona International Piano Competition (Italy), WPTA International Piano Competition (Spain), Odin International Piano Competition (Estonia), Aegio International Piano Competition (USA), and Carles & Sofia International Piano Competition (Spain). In addition, his students completed ABRSM, RCM, and CM exams with the highest grades. Julian is a C. Bechstein Artist and partners with them to provide concerts across Europe.
Tue 1:30-8:30, Sat 1:00pm-7:00pm
first began taking piano lessons at the age of 5 and is working on her Masters in piano performance degree from Azusa Pacific University where she also has a Bachelor's degree in music education. She was invited by the International Association of Professional Music Teachers to tour and perform solo works across Romania and Austria, performing at the Great Hall in Targu Mures and the Haydn Hall in Vienna, attending a master class with Luca Monti. She received the Music Teachers Association Award fro Unusual Promise in the Field of Piano Performance and was was the 2nd Prize winner for the Fritzie Culick Piano Award. Nadine led group piano classes at the Azusa Conservatory and serves as accompanist to instrumentalists and vocalists. She has performed master classes with Gergely Kovacs, Daniel Paul Horn, Susan Boettger, and Luigi Borzillo.
Tue 4pm-5pm, Thu 6pm-8:30pm, Wed & Fri 1:30pm-8:30pm,
Melissa Lai is a jazz vocalist/composer/arranger/educator who loves sharing in the collective joy of making music. She started out with classical piano lessons from age 4 to 13, and then started playing viola, studying with Anna Lim and performing with various youth and school orchestras. In her middle school big band, Melissa developed a passion for jazz and improvisation, which led studying jazz piano with Janet Jones and then Barb Catlin and Gary Fukushima at Pasadena City College. She then found her heart's calling in jazz voice and studied with Alina Roitstein, subsequently transferring to Cal State Northridge and studying with Erin Bentlage (of the vocal group säje), completing a bachelor’s of music degree in Jazz Studies. Melissa’s teaching approach stems from the belief that music is a vehicle for expressing oneself authentically and learning to become a kinder human, and she melds this with her varied musical background to meet students where they’re at and foster space for them to grow.
Available: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri1:30pm-8:30pm, Sun: 10am-3pm
has sung nationally and internationally in Mexico, making his Long Beach Opera debut in March 2016 debut in the role of “Wissam” in the World Premier of Raffo & Stokes’ Fallujah and his New York City Opera debut in the East Coast premier (November 2016.) Other recent roles include VCGSRC as “Frederic” in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance (2021), Pacific Opera Project as “Tamino” (cover) in Mozart’s The Magic Flute (2019) Opera California as King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (2017) Long Beach Opera as “Man 1” in Robert Xavier’s west coast premier of Frida (2017); Opera Theatre of the Rockies: “Radames” in Verdi’s Aida (2017/scene), “Goro” in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (2017/scene), “Pylade” in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (2017/scene); Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (2015/Act 1), Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen (2015/scene); San Diego Opera’s Opera on Track as “Don Ramiro” in Rossini’s Cenerentola (2016/Act 1); Opera de Tijuana as “Joe” in Gershwin’s Blue Monday (2015/2016.) Currently, Jonathan is a teaching artist and soloist with Los Angeles Opera’s Connect / Zarzuela Project and Music Director at Christ Chapel of Long Beach. He also is a male vocalist for the Billboard’s Top 100 band TIERRA and the corporate bands: The Allen G’s Orchestra, Ben Mallare Entertainment, and Bonnie Foster Productions. Fluent in Spanish.
Monday-Thursday 1:30pm-6:30pm
Monday-Thursday 1:30pm-6:30pm
Eve Chen (piano)
first started piano lessons at age five at the Yamaha Music School in Taiwan; this is where she began to develop her passion for music. During college she participated in various recitals, placing in many competitions, most notably receiving the Honor Award at the Performance Scholarship Competition of Old Town Music for Piano. She also won first place at the Seventh Annual Piano Ensemble Festival of Fullerton College. Ms. Chen graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano. At CSUN, she studied under Dimitry Rachmanov and performed in master class with Roberto Prosseda. She was a recipient of the CSUN Music Department of the Music Teacher’s Association of California, West Valley Branch Scholarship in 2010-2011. Eve has been active as a teacher and performer for over 10 years, and she is currently a member of the Certificate of Merit program (MTAC). Fluent in Mandarin. Vaccinated.
upon request
is an award-winning Venezuelan cellist hailing from El Sistema, Venezuela’s acclaimed youth music program. She was a student of magnet school New World School of Arts in Florida, studying under David Cole, as well as a cello performance student at the University of Florida– graduating both academic programs with honors. Ms. Diaz also holds a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Florida. Ms. Diaz has performed as a touring featured cellist with The Nuevo Mundo String Quartet, the World Orchestra String Quartet, and as a soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of Aragua and the Whittier Symphony Orchestra, among others. She was also a principal cellist for the World Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, among others. Currently, Ms. Diaz is the principal cellist with the Pacific Opera Project. She also is a Teaching Artist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Whittier Youth Orchestra, and Santa Monica Conservatory of Music, and is the conductor of the Watts-Willowbrook Conservatory Youth Orchestra and Harmony Project at Longfellow Elementary School. She is a founding member of the JAC Trio, and the Yellow Bird String Quartet. She also is a recording artist for Warner Bros. Studios and Sony Studios. Circe ofrece classes de cello en Espanol
Monday: 1:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Carolyn Iga (President, Piano, Kindermusik)
Grew up teaching herself to play the ukulele at the age of 4, and taking formal piano lessons at the age of 7. She became the lead trumpet in the Hawaii State Junior Orchestra, Concert Band, Marching Band and Jazz Band. Carolyn earned a Bachelors in Music Education from the University of Hawaii and a Masters in Church Music with a major on piano and choral conducting from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. In 2000 she opened Neighborhood Music School, teaching piano to kids in her neighborhood and expanding to studios in Malibu, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel, and Arcadia. She worked with mommy and me classes and has coached beginner students all the way through the advanced level of the Certificate of Merit exam and her students have received up to 100% music theory awards. She coaches her students to see the chord structures their music, in order to venture off the piano score and improvise, a technique which is essential in church music. After opening her Arcadia school she began studying Mandarin and has since devoted her life to relief work in China. She coaches piano, vocal, and theory students when she is in town. Fluent in Mandarin. Vaccinated.
Member MTAC, accepts new students only upon special request
Grew up teaching herself to play the ukulele at the age of 4, and taking formal piano lessons at the age of 7. She became the lead trumpet in the Hawaii State Junior Orchestra, Concert Band, Marching Band and Jazz Band. Carolyn earned a Bachelors in Music Education from the University of Hawaii and a Masters in Church Music with a major on piano and choral conducting from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. In 2000 she opened Neighborhood Music School, teaching piano to kids in her neighborhood and expanding to studios in Malibu, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel, and Arcadia. She worked with mommy and me classes and has coached beginner students all the way through the advanced level of the Certificate of Merit exam and her students have received up to 100% music theory awards. She coaches her students to see the chord structures their music, in order to venture off the piano score and improvise, a technique which is essential in church music. After opening her Arcadia school she began studying Mandarin and has since devoted her life to relief work in China. She coaches piano, vocal, and theory students when she is in town. Fluent in Mandarin. Vaccinated.
Member MTAC, accepts new students only upon special request
Registration Private Music Classes
one on one or two on one private lesson with teacher