My Mentor
I have had the fortune to have my piano teacher of four years, Rick Pearson, as my mentor for this project. Rick has an extremely relatable personality, and his witty and humorous view of ordinary things makes every lesson enjoyable. Rick stresses the importance of enjoying learning music, so that his students will continue playing for the rest of their lives. His relaxed, yet dynamic teaching method works well for students of any age, as evidenced by the students who performed in my recital.
The following excerpt from The Music Store's Personal Music Instruction Handbook highlights some of Rick's accomplishments:Rick studied music history, the relationship between music and society through time in Western Europe, at the Crane School of Music; he then studied musicology, the scholarly study of music and music history, at the University of Miami. He served as Artistic Director of the Moonbeam2earth Project, Inc. creating elementary school theatre, music and literacy programs. Rick has been teaching piano and Saxophone privately for thirty years. He has directed many local projects including: the JCC's Onstage Theatre Program and their Centennial anniversary show, Cobbles Elementary School After-School Theatre Program, FCCNS After-School Theatre Program. Rick has performed in rock, jazz, academic and sacred ensemble too numerous to mention.
Rick's latest venture in music is with the group Off The Record, which aims to perform live, note-for-note, classic albums. Their most recent endeavor is The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, for which Rick is the principle keyboard player and auxiliary percussionist.