Meet Renee

I saw firsthand that knowing how to play an instrument and knowing how to teach a student are two very different skills. A teacher can demand excellence - the greater challenge is discovering how to help an individual student achieve it. I became determined to learn how to do that well.

 

That determination led first to three years of Suzuki teacher training, where I learned the extraordinary power of encouragement, careful sequencing and developing ability one step at a time. I continued with several years of Kodály training and certification, deepening my understanding of rhythm, listening, movement and musicianship.  Both profoundly shaped the teacher I became—but neither completely answered the questions I encountered in the flute studio.

 

So I kept studying.

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I studied flute privately as well as collected teaching methods and practice strategies, experimented, observed and—most importantly—paid attention to my students. When something didn't work, I wanted to know why. When one student struggled with something another learned easily, I looked for another way to teach it.

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Eventually, the Royal Conservatory of Music program gave me the comprehensive musical framework I had been looking for.  Its structured progression integrates technique, ear training, rhythm, etudes and repertoire, with achievement measured through standardized adjudication. Over the years, I prepared 80+ students for RCM practical examinations, with approximately 85% earning First Class Honors or First Class Honors with Distinction.

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Many of my students began with me in fourth or fifth grade and continued through high school. Some came easily to the flute; others needed much more help finding their way. Those students taught me some of my most important lessons as a teacher.  More than 30 years later, that is still what drives my teaching: not asking whether a student can learn something, but discovering how that particular student can learn it.