Dr. Mark Terenzi
Pianist-Private Piano Teacher-Choir Conductor/Clinician
Sarasota, Florida
Experience and Philosophy of Piano Teaching
Solo Piano Videos
In high school, I was fortunate to study piano with one of the most highly regarded teachers in New York City, Herbert Stessin of the Juilliard School Pre-College Division. Stessin had been trained in the Russian-Ukrainian traditions of Sasha Gorodnkitze and Josef Lhevinne, and he later went on to become part of the college division faculty and chair of the Juilliard Piano Dept. It was from Stessin that I learned to drop the arm weight into the keys to create a singing tone, play even scales and create a real legato at the piano by overlapping the notes with the fingers on the keys.
In college at the Indiana University School of Music, I studied with the brilliant Italian pianist Enrica Cavallo-Gulli. Her approach to the piano was unique in my experience as she would focus less on pianistic minutia but rather smiled and sang through my entire piano lesson as I played, to guide, motivate and inspire me; with her, the peak of every phrase was intoned with an expressive rolled R! Her spontaneous love of music was infectious, so these two teachers provided a very strong foundation, both in piano technique and musicality. While studying with Professor Gulli, I won the South Orange Young Artists Competition which was open to all New Jersey residents, and performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the orchestra.
As a piano teacher, I’ve been fortunate to instruct gifted piano students at Belvoir Terrace in Lenox MA, Blackburn College of Illinois and at Kean University of New Jersey. During their time working with me, some of my students have won piano competitions and have been accepted at schools like Indiana University, University of Iowa and Westminster Choir College. This is because I specialize in training students and bringing them for the next level, whether it be performances or auditions.
If you are serious about developing your playing and would like to take it to the next level, please email or text me to set up a free demo lesson to see if my approach suits you.
Fees: $80 for a 55 minute lesson, $40 for a 25 minute lesson
