Phoenix Piano and Voice

Go join in the fun!

30 ish days left of school!

If you need some ideas for the summer, here are some classes I’ll be helping teach this summer!

Desert Ridge Music Academy Learn, create and perform music with the help of top notch instructors for all ages and skill levels on nearly every instrument.

It’s recital time!! Sunday Dec 14th at 7:00pm!

All Saints Lutheran Church or Facebook live 🎶🎄

It's truly heartwarming to witness the growth of one’s students, both in their abilities and in their physical stature.

Watching them grasp new concepts and tackle challenges with confidence reflects their hard work and dedication.

At the same time, seeing them grow taller reminds you of the journey they’re on—each inch a testament to their evolving potential.

Together, these milestones showcase not just their achievements but also the vibrant individuals they are becoming. It's a beautiful blend of progress, both inside and out! I feel so blessed to be on the journey with them.

A post by Johannes Steinray:

Stevie Wonder whispered one thing to me that I didn't understand for years.

"Don't chase the notes. Chase the silence between them."

I was trained in Danish conservatories. Precision mattered. Every note accounted for, every measure perfect.

But Stevie was talking about space.

The breath before the phrase. The pause that makes an audience lean forward... the gap that turns competent music into something people feel in their chest.

Took me a decade to really get it.

I remember working on a Nike campaign years later. I'd written this complex orchestral piece, layered, dense. The creative director kept saying it felt "too busy."

So I stripped it back.

Left holes in the arrangement. Let the visuals breathe.

Suddenly the spot worked. The silence sold the moment better than any crescendo could.

Same thing happened when I was musical directing a live event in Paris. Singer asked me to fill every gap with accompaniment. I didn't.

Left spaces empty.

The audience leaned in during those silences. They became part of the performance instead of passive listeners.

Here's what I learned over 30 years:

→ In film scoring, the best cue is sometimes no cue at all
→ In vocal coaching, the pause before the note matters as much as the note itself
→ In live performance, restraint beats virtuosity every time

I've worked with Roy Hargrove, Billy Cobham, musicians who understood this instinctively. They played the room, not just their instrument.

Space is where the magic lives.

Not in the notes you play, but in the ones you choose not to.

It sounds simple. But it goes against every instinct when you're trained to fill silence, to prove your skill, to show what you can do.

Most composers I know are still chasing notes.

I'm still chasing the silence.

What's one piece of advice that rewired how you work?

🎵 MIT researchers just proved it music makes you smarter. 🧠✨

A new study found that learning music strengthens memory, focus, problem-solving, and language skills by activating both sides of the brain at once. Unlike coding, which mainly builds logic, music also lights up creativity, emotion, and collaboration giving students a fuller mental workout. 🎶

Experts say starting with music doesn’t just boost intelligence it can actually make learning to code easier later on.

So maybe the best way to raise future innovators… is to hand them an instrument first. 🎹🎻