MY MUSICAL BACKGROUND
EXPERIENCE, INFLUENCES
Some of my earliest memories are of sitting with my books by my mother in the viola section of an orchestra during rehearsal. My dad played in the trombone section. This was too loud for me. My grandmother played cello and it was fine sitting next to her in the cello section. By the age of four I'd been to enough rehearsals that I wanted to be a conductor.
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I began piano lessons at the age of six with pianist and pioneering conductor Dr. Antonia Brico. She had a high profile in Denver for many years because of her charismatic delivery of a grand European tradition of music making. In 1948 she founded the Brico Symphony. (Its current incarnation is as the Denver Philharmonic.) Her own teachers included the great Ignaz Paderewski, Simon Berere, Sigismond Stojowski, and Charles Munch. In 1974 she was the subject of an Academy Award nominated documentary, Antonia: Portrait of a Woman.
In high school I studied with Samuel Lancaster, the principal keyboard player for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and an award winning composer. Sam's great reservoir of experience included accompanying such master musicians as violinist Dylana Jenson, cellist David Lockington, and opera luminaries such as Leontyn Price and Franco Corelli. He could trace his own pianistic lineage back to Anton Rubinstein, and even to Chopin and Beethoven.
Around this time I also had the privilege of getting to know and study with the great Mexican pianist, Maria Teresa Rodriguez. She had a vast repertoire which she played with incomparable elegance. She was famous for, among other things, recording the complete pianistic output of the great Mexican composer, Carlos Chavez. She was also the first woman to be the director of El Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City.
Early on I knew I wanted to be a composer. In high school, after private study in music theory with composer Thomas Brosh, I took first prize in a statewide composition competition. I earned my B.A. in music theory and composition at St. Olaf College. There I continued my piano studies with Julliard graduate Dr. DeWayne Wee. A high point for me during those years was performing with the St. Olaf Choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Directly out of college, I began teaching piano lessons. I did this while earning a Master’s Degree in psychology from Lesley University. I worked for ten years as a psychotherapist. Always I taught piano on the side.
In 2008 I set aside my private psychotherapy practice to focus solely on music. As a pianist, I've performed with the Golden Chamber Orchestra, the Jefferson Symphony, and with the Mile High Quartet. I perform frequently with my husband, violinist Lan Vo. I am a member of The Denver Piano Salon.
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In 2024 I became President of the Denver Area Music Teacher's association (DAMTA), which is the local chapter of Colorado Sate MTA, and the Music Teacher's National Association. This has been a great honor. DAMTA is a vibrant, dynamic organization, supporting teachers, partnering with other organizations in the area, and offering scholarships for students. We have, for two years in a row, received MTNA's Community Engagement Grant. DAMTA has recently gained national attention for its work towards making DEI a part of the music teaching profession.
As a composer I've written choral works, songs, works for cello and piano, violin and piano, piano solo, including a piano sonata, and pedagogical pieces for piano students. In October of 2016 my work, The Musician Dreams: Portrait for Viola and Orchestra premiered with The Valley Symphony in Montrose, Colorado. My mother was the soloist.
In the summer of 2017 my friend, the great Israeli pianist Ilana Vered, invited me to attend her music festival in Perugia, Italy. Music Fest Perugia provides a remarkable opportunity for talented young pianists from around the world to benefit from the wisdom of some of the finest teachers in the world today, and to experience performing with an orchestra. I count Ilana as among my greatest influences in the art of piano. I've learned so much from her about playing with vibrance and integrity.
It's hard for me to believe I've been teaching now for thirty years. I'm very proud of my piano students, some of whom have attended the Denver School of the Arts, some of whom have gone on to be professional musicians, and many of whom have simply developed a love for music and music making which will stay with them for their whole lives. It's a great business to be in.
