Music Lesson Instructors in Toccoa, Georgia (Stephens County)

We are two dedicated teachers, Anatoly for piano and Valentina for violin and viola.

Anatoly: I am currently on the piano faculty of the UGA school of music as the resident pianist. Prior to my UGA appointment, I was assistant professor of piano at the Gnesin Institute of Moscow and maintained a private piano studio.

I love teaching and have taught piano to students of all ages. Some of my students in the US have won numerous awards at local, state and international competitions. I am an active member of the national, state and local MTNA organizations.

A native of Moscow, I graduated from the Gnesin's Musical Academy and completed doctoral studies there under professor Anatoly Vedernikov. I also graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of Tikhon Khrennikov.

I was winner of the 1977 Russian National Piano Competition and, in 1999, was awarded the name "Honored Artist of the Russian Federation." I have performed solo concerts with orchestras, solo recitals, and chamber music in the most prestigious concert halls in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major cities throughout Russia, Germany, France, Italy, China, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Australia and the USA. I have recorded twenty-six CDs of piano solo and chamber music and have performed on Russian Television and Radio. My repertoire includes the major works for piano, piano and orchestra, and piano chamber music of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary periods.

Valentina: I am also a Moscow native. I have Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music from the Gnesin's Music Academy of Moscow and rich experience as a violist/violinist in orchestral performances. I love teaching and have had a private studio since 1982. Since Anatoly works closely with me, my students have an unusual opportunity to play violin/viola with a very experienced accompanist.

I performed for 11 years as the the principal viola for the ARCO Chamber Orchestra (now based at UGA) with performances in the US, Russia, Germany, Romania, Spain, France, Canada, etc. I was also a principal violist for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Kaluga (Russia) and associate principal viola with the State Academic Symphony Capella of Russia, with performances in Russia and abroad including Greece, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan, Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, and Poland. I have recorded 2 CD's with ARCO Chamber Orchestra featuring music by Vivaldi and Mendelssohn (for SONY A - RAM). I have also recorded several CD's with State Academic Symphonic Capella of Russia as well as some recordings for radio and TV in the former USSR.... See More

The piano/music instructor, Judy Huang, a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, has great passion for piano teaching. She has invested her time and thought into it. She would like her students to enjoy, understand, and bring the ARTISTRY of music into their life. Judy explains why we need to have a good posture and awareness of how our physical parts work together, why we need to have a flexible wrist to play arpeggios, why we push our elbows out to play big chords, why we use different weight transfer to the hands, why we don't attack notes, why we rock back and forth to play tremolos, why we bring the melody out rather than just make sound out through different pitches, and etc.

Piano studying is not only about learning the notations but also expressions, interpretations, phrasing, structures, tonal relationships, mood, articulations, analysis, and etc. Judy includes some music history in association with the pieces the students are learning to play, besides the theory and structure of it. She would ask her students to find any patterns in the pieces and any differences between the same or similar passages. She often asks students to tell her what they can find throughout the pieces based on the knowledge they have and what they have acquired through the lessons. She asks them to listen while playing and train them to listen. Therefore, when they make mistakes, they likely do notice the weirdness about them through listening the sound. She imitates HOW they play a passage and HOW she plays it, and ask them what the differences are in terms of techniques and artistic interpretation. She explains how the students should practice and how they can tackle and isolate a problematic area. Most piano teachers would ask their students to practice more and more, yet practicing more does not necessarily translate into a better playing. Judy stresses on HOW to effectively practice and practice better but not just practice more. Each lesson will be clearly instructed with how to practice for the week.

Piano lessons include theory, ear-training, sight-reading, history, technique, performance, interpretation, and artistry. For youngsters, all genres of music are introduced, despite the fact that classical music is concentrated. On the other hands, teenagers and adult students can have their preferences.... See More