About Ms. Theisen

Welcome to the Music Page at Royle School!

This is my 34th year of teaching, and my 12th year at Royle School.  I am passionate about helping young students learn more about music! My educational philosophy is posted here: http://kathleentheisen.com/Kathleen_Theisen/Educational_Philosophy.html

I was a long-term sub in Choral Music at Middlesex Middle School in the winter of 2012-13 and was thrilled to join the faculty at Royle School in the Fall of 2013!  I work with private voice and piano students in my home studio in Danbury and I am also the Music Director/Conductor of The Village Singers of Westchester - a community choir of adult singers - in Rye Brook, NY. I have also served as Director of Music Ministries at First Congregational Church in Ridgefield since October 2019, where I play organ/piano/harpsichord, direct the adult choir, the children's choir and the handbell choir. 

Before coming to Darien, I was a music professor at Western Connecticut State University for five years, where I taught piano, music theory, orchestration, sight-singing, piano pedagogy, and directed the large chorus.  I have also taught in Greenwich Public Schools, Dana Hall School (Wellesley, Mass.), Madison Country Day School (Wisc.), The Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts (Natick, Mass.), University of Wisconsin-Madison Piano Project, University of Illinois Summer Youth Music (ISYM) piano program, and was an accompanist for the graduate opera program at Yale University when I first moved to Connecticut.  I sub frequently on the organ and piano at many area churches.

I earned the B.Mus. (Piano) magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and the M. Mus. (Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy) summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and did additional graduate work in piano at the University of Michigan.  I have permanent professional certification (piano) from the Music Teachers National Association and Music (K-12) certification through the Connecticut Department of Education.

When I am not teaching or giving workshops, you can find me on stage. As a soprano, I made my debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2003.  I have also appeared as a soloist with Worcester Chorus, Norwalk Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, One World Symphony, DiCapo Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, Connecticut Grand Opera, The Rheingold Project, Concord Symphony, Pacific Opera, and Boston Academy of Music.  In July 2014, I sang the National Anthem for the Harlem Wizards Basketball Team at Hofstra University.  As a pianist, you’ll find me out and about throughout the NYC metro area, playing with groups like The Mozart Ensemble, Ridgefield Symphony, Bridgeport Symphony, Waterbury Symphony, and lots of other concerts!  I recorded a CD of pieces for trumpet and piano with CCSU Professor Dr Dan D'Addio, trumpet. It was released in 2019! 

Publications include articles in American Music Teacher, Keyboard Companion and Clavier Companion magazines.  An article was just published in Clavier Companion in the January/February 2016 issue.  Movie credits include Reservation Road (piano teacher for Elle Fanning).

I am also a composer.  You can find a recent piece, called SEPARATED, on YouTube: youtu.be/bcYddeVxClw.  It was commissioned by Dr. Nick Philips. 

I am an active clinician throughout various music teachers associations, and have presented workshops at national and state conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, Association for Technology in Music Instruction/College Music Society, Wisconsin Music Teachers Association, Connecticut Music Educators Association, Connecticut State Music Teachers Association, and many local organizations throughout the USA.  I served as President of the CSMTA for over five years, as national chair of the State Presidents’ Advisory Council (SPAC) for the MTNA, and have held many state and local offices.

My interests outside of music include skiing, traveling, and cooking up new & exciting gluten-free foods! I belong to an organic CSA (community-sponsored agriculture) farm in New Milford and go to the farm once a week to pick up my ‘share’ of the produce.  I also spend quite a bit of time in the field picking tomatoes, herbs, beans, strawberries and lots of flowers. I have rescue cats  from DAWS.  

I am a “tech geek” and have been a software and operating-system beta-tester for Apple, Time Warp Technologies, and Rising Software.  

For more info, please check out my bio here: http://kathleentheisen.com/Kathleen_Theisen/Biography.html

Miss Kathleen Theisen

Music Teacher, Royle School

ktheisen@darienps.org

(203) 655-0044   extension 4892

Professional Memberships:

Music Teachers National Association

Connecticut State Music Teachers Association

National Association for Music Education

Connecticut Music Educators Association

American Choral Directors' Association

New York City Chapter of AOSA (American Orff-Schulwerk Association)

Schubert Club of Fairfield County

American Guild of Organists

National Federation of Music Clubs