Thursday, June 18, 2015

Ms. Celia's Musical Background

Passion for Music and Teaching

(I decided to throw some old throw-back photos into this "getting to know you" series since everyone seems gets a kick out of poofy sleeves and bad hair styles of the 80s and 90s.)

My mom was a private piano teacher my whole life. I am the 6th of 7 children, and we were all required to take piano lessons until we were in 8th grade, though some of us played well beyond that. According to my mom, I was able to pick out a c-major scale before I was 2 years old because I had heard it so often. I loved practicing, and as a young child I would set my alarm clock for 6 am to practice before school since the piano was busy the rest of the day.  I would practice my own music, sneak my older sister's music (now I realize you can't really "sneak" anything on an acoustic piano), and I played everything I could get my hands on. In Jr. High I started attending competitions, and in High School a good chunk of my repertoire was accompanying friends for different choral tryouts. I particularly loved playing/singing songs from musicals, classical composers, new age composers, and church hymn arrangements.



When I was 14, I started teaching private piano lessons with my mom's guidance. By the time I was a senior, I had about 15 students in addition to my own extra curricular activities and studies. Through high school I took voice and piano lessons from amazing teachers, and nearly every elective in school was music related. I was blessed to be a part of a amazing choirs under an awesome director, David Brown. I attended All State Choir in AZ 3 out of 4 years, only missing it by 3 points my freshman year.


After I graduated high school, I attended Brigham Young University with an academic scholarship, taught English in China, got married, graduated from BYU with a BS in Child Development, cooked professionally for a residential treatment center, had four kids (each about two years apart), owned three houses, and I have lived in four states. The one constant through it all was that I never stopped teaching because I LOVE TO TEACH! I love to see people's lives enriched by the power of music. Even when I haven't owned my own piano, I have borrowed others' pianos, keyboards, and/or taught in my students' homes.
I was super sad to leave my piano studio in Melissa, TX in the summer of 2014 because I had such promising students. They were so much fun to teach! I had my last recital with them one week before I had my fourth baby. Our theme was Jazz, Swing, and Rag. We had a blast! We moved to UT only a few months after this was taken.

My TX studio's Spring Recital