Testimonials
“Carol’s piano playing and pedagogy are superb, but what has always impressed me the most is her boundless enthusiasm for teaching. She brings an unmatched level of energy and fun to her students.”
Andy Johanos, MD
Many musicians can teach well. But in addition to her incomparable skills as a teacher, she has the ability to bring people together around making music on a largely solo instrument, and brings out the absolute best in each student. … In life it’s rare to meet an individual who only sees your best. Carol is one of those wonderful rarities.
Liz Abbott, retired Librarian
I believe that I was Carol’s first dyslexic pupil. We talked about my learning styles and difficulties and together we charged into unknown territory. We experimented and found many ways that worked to help me learn to read a new language, the language of music Carol didn’t hesitate to take me on as a student. She was interested in learning about how I learned so that she could help other students with new teaching ideas… I can say with total certainty that she changed the person I am with her loving approaches to my learning difficulties, she changed my life by helping me to understand that learning is FUN, something that I had NEVER experienced before.
Miriam Holley, retired Office Manager
When I was taking lessons with Carol, she encouraged me to give my own recital. It was a completely daunting experience for me, playing on the huge Bosendorfer up on a stage, and it’s one of the things I am most proud of. … She continues to learn despite having been in the business for so many years, and her enthusiasm has never waned.
Meredith Callahan, Data Systems Manager
“I am a teacher myself. Carol has the enthusiasm and positive outlook of a gifted teacher. She knows how to encourage, but it isn’t empty banality. She enjoys my successes but always has something thoughtful to say that makes a piece sound better. I am always amazed at the work she has done between my lessons thinking about pieces that I have started, looking them up, listening to them - particularly if they are not part of her own huge repertoire… The idea of playing before each other every 4th week is brilliant. Pieces need deadlines (or at least they do for me), and to play before your peers encourages an intensity that I don’t achieve otherwise.
Jean Abbott, MD
“What a delight to discover that Carol asked me what and how I wanted to study. She has an enthusiasm and a flexibility that keeps me inspired to continue in the face of my internal self-reproach… She is inventive as we find workarounds my arthritic knuckles and rigid hearing. My mistakes are normalized and never shamed.”
Jo Graybill, Psychiatric Nurse
“As an adult who was trying to learn the piano after taking some lessons when I was eight years old, I was a very raw and somewhat nervous beginner, but Carol managed to be both understanding and extremely inspiring. With her skilled teaching ability, I soon found myself making wonderful progress and thoroughly enjoying the time I spent playing the piano, and attending the group classes and recitals she facilitated in her studio.”
Melissa Malcolm, Writer
“I’ve seen some of her tiny students play a single line melody, and been able to hear her “shape the line” coaching shining through. Carol is an outstanding motivating force with students, and her teaching, playing, and life are filled with joy.”
Laura Boniek, former Piano Teacher
“I think what I respect the most about Carol is her “realness.” ...Studying piano, we often feel we have to be perfect because that is always our musical goal, but to be around a person as genuine, sincere, and authentic as Carol provides us exceptional comfort. She creates a space that allows her students to take risks, to grow, to celebrate, to feel validated, to feel safe. That is a true gift.”
Janice Vlachos, High School Choral Director
“One of the things that makes Carol an outstanding teacher is her willingness to direct her teaching to the individual….Rather than expecting all her students to walk the same path, she bends over backwards to captivate her students’ interest and give them a desire to keep learning.
Hannah (Baker) Hoogland, Professional Accompanist
Testimonials from past and present students
