ExperienceI have performed music for all my life, and have taught it since 1996. I started by teaching private piano and voice lessons while in college at Loyola, and by acting as a teaching assistant for the choir director there. I also worked for ten years, first as a professional singer and later as Music Director for Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Winnetka, IL. After college I taught private voice, piano, trombone, electric bass and guitar lessons in the Oswego/Naperville areas for 5 years. While completing my Masters degree I student-conducted several choirs at NIU, while continuing to teach private lessons. I performed in the NIU Concert Choir and Chamber Chorale under Eric Johnson, a past President of the Illinois Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and the University Chorus under Dr. Sandra Frey-Stegman. I student-taught with Frank Tieri at OHS and Beth Best at Hill Middle School (Naperville) in the fall of 2003. I have sung on several professional recordings under the guidance of such composers as Alice Parker and Libby Larsen. I was listed in the 2006 edition of "Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers." I also sing in the professional choir "Cor Cantiamo". Family LifeMy wife Annie and I live in Yorkville with our sons Samuel and Nathaniel, and our cat Nina Simone. We both have large extended families spread across the country. ActivitiesI am an avid reader. I love historical fiction novels (James Ellroy, Sharon Kay Penman, Steven Pressfield, Umberto Eco, Neal Stephenson`s Baroque Cycle, etc.), science fiction (Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, etc), and history (David McCollough, Paul M. Johnson). I played in the rock band Seven Day Run for five years. As part of SDR, I performed at the House of Blues, the Metro, Schuba`s, Martyr`s, the Taste of Chicago, the Tweeter Center VIP area and on WGN (Channel 9) television. I also volunteer at Community Christian Church as a musician and worship leader. Favorite Quotes"Effort is only effort when it begins to hurt" -Ortega "Work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vice and want" -Voltaire "If I don`t practice one day, I know it: two days, the critics know it: three days, the public knows it." -Jascha Heifetz "Talent is a question of quantity. Talent does not write one page; it writes three hundred." -Jules Renard "Do you want to know who you are? Don`t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." -Thomas Jefferson "Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth, and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline, and endurance. -Shinichi Suzuki |
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Peter Barsch |
