Music

Bring more joy to your world with music

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Jen is a teacher and creator whose interest in pedagogy and psychology gives depth to her musical contributions. With training in classical piano, jazz, and choir singing, Jen is also a composer and songwriter. She has many musical skills to share, from her experience as a violinist in orchestras and a rock band to her studies in musical theater, musical improv, and freestyling.

• Piano lessons
• Music theory for filmmakers
• Custom songs

Piano lessons

Jen makes learning piano fun. One of the favorite songs requested by beginners is the Harry Potter theme song, played in this video by her with video from dog walks in West Hollywood and Halloween decor.

At any age, from 3-years-old to late adulthood, piano lessons can improve someone’s audio learning abilities or music appreciation or creativity. Combining material from the Suzuki method (with a focus on ear training) and classical training, students will have a custom curriculum tailored to their interests to learn songs that inspire them. Whether it is music from your favorite movie, children’s songs, jazz or pop, or the classics, we can find a way for you to learn songs that develop your piano playing skills.

As a child pianist, Jen was trained at Holy Names College Conservatory of Music (Oakland, CA) and played with ensemble groups from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She won honors at local music competitions and was a frequent performer at the competitive Jr. Bach Festival concerts held at UC Berkeley. She started teaching piano at age 14, with the encouragement of her high school orchestra teacher who knew Jen had other skills besides being a violinist. Jen retired early from teaching piano during her college years and has rebooted piano teaching as a creative in Los Angeles.

In her adult years as a pianist, she has been an accompanist at concerts such as a Prokofiev flute piece at the University of Michigan, a jazz club in New York City, and a choral performance in Los Angeles. Her additional studies of songwriting, musical theater, and film composing bring unique options of creativity in music with her students. With the availability of FaceTime and Zoom, students anywhere can take virtual piano and music private 1-1 lessons. Her students play a range of music which include:

• “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter
• “Surface Pressure” from Encanto
• Debussy’s Claire de Lune
• Bach’s C minor Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier

Please contact Jen to discuss how a piano and music program could be specially tailored for you or your children. Lessons are designed differently for age-appropriate learning and personal interests.

Music theory for filmmakers

To have an edge in storytelling, filmmakers need to have the ability to identify musical elements they want for their projects.  Jen creates a unique bridge for filmmakers to learn vocabulary of music theory to better direct their sound design and work with their composers. As a filmmaker who is an active member of Women in Film and Women of Color Unite, Jen has projects where she has experience not only as a writer/director/producer, she has performed roles of music supervisor and film composer.  Distilling years of music theory from university music courses and from studies in songwriting, Jen develops a curriculum tailored to the filmmaker’s needs.  She is launching a group course to address the general needs of filmmakers, and provides 1-1 coaching for individual filmmaker’s projects. Please contact her directly for your specific project needs.

Vocal coaching

If you’re a singer or public speaker who needs to improve your performance skills, Jen provides insight to how you can use your body and voice better. With 16 years of physical rehab fitness experience combined with 20+ years of performing with choirs, Jen has a toolbox of exercises to help decrease your stress and boost your confidence. She has sung in concerts directed by Meredith Monk, Gustavo Dudamel, and most recently in the 2020 virtual choir project of Eric Whitacre.

Custom songs

Commission a custom song for the person you want to flatter or roast!

This is a great gift for a wedding, birthday, spouse, or someone special in your life.

“You’re the Top” (Cole Porter) is a classic “laundry list” song that lends itself to some fun lyrics that will make the subject of your admiration (or humor) feel special. Here is a sample of an anniversary song with ideas from the couple’s children collected easily through an emailed survey.

“My Favorite Things” (Rodgers and Hammerstein) is another fun song to customize for a celebration. Sung by various artists like Kelly Clarkson to Mary J. Blidge and the original Julie Andrews, this is a crowd-pleaser. Here’s a sample of a custom song, re-written from “My Favorite Things,” a little humor from a dog’s perspective, sung in his character voice.

If you have a favorite song you would like to customize, please suggest it and we can see if we can customize it to meet your goals!

Jen is a collaborative and imaginative songwriter. If you need voice coaching to sing it, she has years of experience as a music teacher to help you, or if you want her to sing it as a virtual singing telegram, she can also record your customized song.

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Photo credits: Music book on piano (Photo by Valentino Funghi on Unsplash)