About Jon
Jon began piano lessons at the age of 8 and by age 12 he performed his first professional recital at the World Bank in Washington D.C. He studied piano performance at The Levine School of Music where he graduated with distinction. Jon was then accepted to the prestigious Brevard Music Academy in NC where he studied with some of the most preeminent musicians in the world. He completed his studies with Mikhail Volchok, an internationally renowned pianist, at the University of Maryland where he was awarded the CAPA merit scholarship.
Jon has won numerous awards and performed extensively in both classical and jazz settings nationally at festivals and venues including Parker Concert Hall, The Hollywood Roosevelt, Zipper Concert Hall, Waltz Disney Concert Hall, Bumbershoot, Tula’s, Showbox, The Triple Door, Neptune, Nectar, Columbia City Theatre, Crocodile, Benaroya and many more.
Jon has been teaching music in the Seattle Area for over 10 years and is a member of the Seattle Music Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association and is a Certified Royal Conservatory of Music Instructor.
My Philosophy
As a teacher I am tasked with the difficult job of making my own knowledge and experience accessible to students. Over the years I have learned that each student requires a personalized approach. Some students demand more discipline; others require a gentler touch. Some student's excel when they have a heavy workload and enjoy the challenge of getting as much done as they can while others get overwhelmed quickly and shut down. It is important to me to try and establish what kind of learner any given student is and adapt my approach to best suit their needs. My job is to work with the student's individual learning style and adapt the lessons so that the student maintains interest over the long term and establishes a lasting relationship with their instrument.
Accordingly, I use a variety of teaching methods including Faber, Suzuki and the Royal Conservatory books. In addition I supplement with Scale books, Czerny, Hanon, theory, sight-reading, and any other exercises I feel will help round out the student’s learning process. I encourage my student’s to give recitals at least twice a year and for the RCM learners I prepare them for examinations that take place three times per year. Examinations and recitals are fun and effective in motivating student’s to excel.
My background is rooted in Western Classical Music, but I have played and taught various styles of music in my professional career. I feel just as comfortable teaching Chopin as I do teaching Nirvana. I have taught Hindi music, classic rock, heavy metal, jazz, pop, EDM... the list goes on. Being a multi-instrumentalist, I have benefited from being exposed to multiple perspectives in music. While I am a firm believer in a strong foundation of technique and musical expression, I am not dogmatic in my approach to what kind of music my student wants to pursue. I will expose them to Beethoven, but I will allow them to expose me to their taste as well.
I believe music to be an essential part of being human, no matter the age. Learning an instrument is enriching beyond measure and I firmly believe it should be a part of every person’s life. I pride myself in making music lessons a fundamentally enjoyable and fruitful endeavor.
The Studio
Professional Learning Environment
The studio is equipped with every instrument a student or group of musicians needs to learn, play and collaborate on a professional quality recording.
Equipment includes:
Yamaha C7 7'6 semi-concert grand piano
1967 Knabe 5'8 grand piano
Acoustic, classical and electric guitars
Electric Bass
High Quality condenser and dynamic microphones
Yamaha drumset
Plug and play ready to record into Logic Pro X through Apogee preamps