I was born and raised in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn within a family of teachers. For the last 30 years I have lived near Prospect Park; in and around Windsor Terrace, Kensington and Ditmas Park.

I grew up listening to lots of different music; being Italian American, my parents were fans of opera. My parents played lots of other music for me too; my first favorite bands were The Mamas and the Papas and the Supremes. My sister and cousins exposed me to countless other bands and I became a super-fan of music at a very young age.

The first instrument I studied was piano. My teacher, Ms. Casio, was classically oriented.  I studied lots of technical exercises from the all those well-known yellow books; Hanon, Czerny, etc.  I didn’t always love it, but it really gave me a great foundation for all my future music education.

When I was 12, I decided I wanted to learn guitar and we found a teacher through the local music store, Maggio Music on 18^thAve. His name was Mr. Matty and he played in a big swing band that would often play at the Bally Bunion, an Irish bar in Bay Ridge.

When I was still in high school, my neighbor approached me about teaching guitar to her son. My former piano teacher had referred me to her, and before long, I was teaching a roster of students from the neighborhood.

I attended Bishop Kearney High School (a large Catholic school in Brooklyn) on full academic scholarship; there I continued studying music by playing alto saxophone in the school band, led by Ms. Corcoran. I also took my first music theory class there. I enjoyed being in the school band but even more so, I loved the folk group. This was a group of students who sang in all the school masses and events. I learned a whole repertoire of hymns and folk songs. I loved harmonizing with the other members of the group and I was one of only a handful of guitarists in the large group. The folk group cemented my identity as being closely connected to music.

Music connected me to my best friends and it also connected me to larger and deeper issues. Although I haven’t stayed as connected to the Catholic Church throughout my life, my experience in the Folk Group taught me the importance of music in a new context. Music can heal and unite people and communicate very important things that words cannot. It truly is the universal language. I started to recognize that many of my important relationships were actually founded in music – I was drawn to other music lovers like myself.

I decided to stay in New York for college and I was accepted into NYU’s Scholars Program, which included a partial academic scholarship. I wasn’t sure about whether to major in Rehabilitation Counseling or music. After taking a few courses in both areas, I decided to major in Rehabilitation Counseling, earning both a Bachelor of Science as well as Master of Arts from NYU.  In truth, I was intimidated by the male dominated music classes. Some of my classmates were arrogant and competitive. Being a female guitarist felt like being a second-class citizen. Maybe I judged the situation too quickly, but that experience has always shaped my teaching to this day.

Part of my scholarship included travel. I had never been out of the country before college but greatly enjoyed this benefit. In my sophomore year I went with NYU to several cities in Spain including Sevilla. Hearing live flamenco music for the first time inspired a renaissance in my own guitar playing. I had continued to teach beginning students throughout high school and college but now I wanted to continue my own study of the instrument; I took an elective guitar credit and was invited by my teacher to join a trio ensemble. (I was the only female again but I was more confident this time). I later continued my study of the guitar with Eric Ryan, focusing on classical and flamenco styles.

During and after college, I worked at many non-profits and health facilities around NYC including YAI, Daytop Village, Cumberland Diagnostic and Treatment Center, and Samaritan Village Veterans Program. In my work as a counselor, I learned how to really listen – be compassionate and non-judgmental and to work with other people where they are at and not necessarily where you expect them to be. This realization has also greatly influenced my teaching.

After over 10 years in the rehabilitation counseling field, I decided to return to school and become a music teacher; something I had continued doing on the side throughout my counseling career. I enrolled in Brooklyn College and earned a second Masters, this time in Music Education. I reconnected with my first instrument, piano, and started taking on my first piano students while simultaneously advancing in my own study of the instrument.

From 2006 to 2016, I taught at the International High School at Prospect Heights. There, I created a music program for a student population comprised entirely of recent immigrants. After creating the guitar and drumming components, I also started a keyboard lab class there and experimented with various ways of teaching the keyboard. It was fascinating to see how the instruments I played were approached differently by people from different cultures. Music again connected me to a whole new group of people; international students and newcomers to our country from Haiti, West Africa, Uzbekistan, Dominican Republic, Yemen, China, Bangladesh, Tibet, Pakistan, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico and so many other places. It was truly a privilege to teach, learn and play music with such a diverse population of students.

For the last 8 years I have focused on my private teaching full time.  I share my life with a wonderful partner and our 16 year old daughter, as well as a great community of family and friends. Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone who helped me with this website – especially my amazing students and their families.