| |
Music surrounded me from birth. My grandmother, a piano teacher, studied music at Oberlin College. My mother, a trained opera vocalist and violinist encouraged me as well as my 3 older sisters to love music. My oldest sister obtained her Doctorate degree in Piano Performance , and recieved a grant to premier modern composers' works across the United States. My next two sisters studied the violin at The Peabody Conservatory of Music, and voice & piano, also at The Peabody Conservatory and Saint Mary's College, respectively.
I personally auditioned for The Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 5. (I remember playing on stage for 3 very nice grey-haired ladies!) I was accepted into the Preparatory Department (my first teacher there was sweet Mrs. Reed), and by the age of 6 I was allowed to take two lessons per week (one strictly in piano, 1 on Saturday mornings in Musicianship) at The Peabody Conservatory of Music.
When my parents were transferred to Duneland Beach, Indiana (I was 10 years old), I studied piano with Dorothy Trishansky from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and violin with Mrs. Gerhing at Valporaiso University. From Mrs. Trishansky I progressed to study piano with Mrs. S. Lane Emery in Chesterton. After receiving a full scholarship to The Indiana University Summer Music Clinic, I was awarded, by competition as a high school senior, the Florence B. Walton Piano Scholarship for Achievement in Piano. |
