MY SERVICES

Feldenkrais Method

Feldenkrais Method

This method is highly accessible to young and old. Through gentle guided actions that improve function and ease movement. It was created by Moshe Feldenkrais - cartographer, judo master, engineer, scientist - who had to recover from serious knee injuries and managed to develop a method that can be learnt and taught by others. One-on-one lessons are a more specific way of working on problem areas that you wish to improve. The group lessons create general improvement and can be just as profound as individual lessons.

Music Physiology

Music Physiology

Many musicians know how to take care of their instruments and how to play them but they don’t get taught how to look after their own health. This should sound alarm bells, because no musician = no music. I help musicians take care of their bodies and to a degree, their minds in order to produce a beautiful sound and give them the tools to sustain a long and healthy music career. I started by looking after myself, then I began to help my students with any musician health issues such as posture, breathing, practice technique, etc. and have moved on to helping specialist musicians with specific music physiological questions, all while attaining my Masters in Music Physiology degree. Music physiology is all about helping musicians live well and reach their potential as artists.

Music Theory

Music Theory

It may sound good, but sometimes you really would love to be able to write a piece down, or read a score, or read a piece of music for the first time without having to memorise every note first… I can help you to find out how to read, write, analyse and compose music on paper or computer.

Piano

Piano

Wrong notes don’t bother me but I know where they are and can help you iron them out if you are passionate enough to try. With me, learning the piano is about fun, discovery and adventure. Learn from your mistakes and move on to play beautiful harmonies and melodies at the tips of your fingers.

Saxophone

Saxophone

As a beginner, letting the saxophone play you may be a losing battle. I can help you get to the point where you can start playing the saxophone beautifully. Of course, it can take years before this happens, but a start is all that’s required to send you on your path. It took me about 4 years before I was playing some pieces composed by my hero, Charlie Parker. I can help you find a sax and teach you how to blow it, where your fingers go, how to read music, find interesting recordings to listen to and give you some performance opportunities. If you’ve always wanted to play: start. A try-out lesson costs nothing and you are welcome to schedule one with me.

Recorder

Recorder

The recorder is a very simple instrument to begin on and then becomes increasingly complex the more one learns about it. I teach and perform this magical instrument to learners of all ages and like to start children on the soprano recorder playing folk tunes or popular melodies before delving into repertoire specifically composed for this instrument. Of course what you learn as an adult is up to you. In case you are wondering what the heck a recorder is, it is a whistle-like flute with 8 holes (7 in the front, one thumb-hole at the back) and has repertoire from the Middle Ages to now and is not just one instrument, but is a family of instruments varying in size and range.

Personal

Each student is unique and therefore has different learning needs and certainly an individual learning tempo.  I teach at the student’s own pace and knowing their motivation behind learning the instrument is what I follow in my teaching of the person.  Private lessons have the advantage of no compulsory exams or assessments, which reduces the stress in my learning environment.

Trained

I hold music performance degrees from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, a post-graduate instrumental teaching diploma (main subject: Recorder) from the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Music Physiology from the same institution.  I completed my Feldenkrais Practitioner training at the Feldenkrais Institut here in Vienna, Austria, and I am a certified Sounder Sleep System (R) trainer.

Professional

Working in the teaching industry for nearly twenty years, in four different countries, I have seen a lot in terms of what students require of me.  That isn’t to say that I don’t get surprised regularly, but I do feel comfortable as a teacher and performer and know how to do my job.  If I ever feel out of my depth with a student, I know how to deal with this and have built a network of colleagues to whom I can refer my students, as necessary.

Holistic

Learning a subject is never just about the content.  It is about what aspects one can draw from this content, integrate it and apply this learning to one’s present and future.  I like to know what my student’s dreams are, what they want to do, what they do outside of the music or Feldenkrais classes, so that I can have a picture of the whole person and understand what they need from my class.