Online Piano Teaching Chronicles: Personal Backstory
California Days
In Silicon Valley, born and raised, on the piano is where I spent most of my days. OK, that last bit might be a slight exaggeration, but I did start piano as a kid, just before I turned seven. Both my parents were music lovers who had wanted to learn piano as children, but growing up in the Philippines without much money, they never had the chance to pursue that dream. Generously, they gave me and my brother the opportunity to study music at a young age. Actually, I had wanted to pick up the guitar, having been fascinated by the music of Armik when I was but a toddler, but once piano lessons started, I had no complaints and rather enjoyed it. Practicing became a part of my daily routine, though I wasn’t always as diligent as I should have been. I persevered through days of boredom and distraction until finally one day, something clicked into place.
In 2004 and I was thirteen years old, preparing for the fall piano recital while studying under Nina Kouchnir, one of the loveliest and most important human beings in my life. She continues to be like a mother to me and I visit her at least once a year to discuss life and music. She always made piano come alive with imaginative descriptions and a deep understanding of the human psyche. In preparing for this particular recital, one of the pieces she assigned was Chopin’s Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72, a work published posthumously. And for the first time, after months of painstaking work, I felt I was able to really put something of myself in the performance and accessed a deeper level of engagement with the music previously unknown to me. The whole experience gave me goosebumps and I felt the rush of sharing something profoundly meaningful with an audience. This was a pivotal moment in my artistic journey, shifting the direction of my life towards a lifelong passion for and study of music.
(On a side note, the preparation for this recital coincided with my dear aunt’s cancer diagnosis and her subsequent chemo treatments, which were ultimately unsuccessful. This was perhaps my first real reckoning with mortality and I suspect that these circumstances propelled me further into an artistic journey that helped me find ways to cope with big feelings I struggled to articulate as a kid.)
Fast forward years later, and I ended up deciding to major in music at Santa Clara University under the tutelage of Hans Boepple. My time at SCU was incredibly fruitful and my pianistic development there warrants an essay unto itself. I really “grew up” while studying with Professor Boepple (and my many other wonderful mentors) and more concretely grasped the discipline and efficient working methods I needed to play my instrument at the highest possible level.
The recital hall in Santa Clara University’s music building.
After graduating in 2013, I felt I needed a break from school and ought to test run living as a musician in the real world. I juggled a few things including freelance teaching, working for a local music school, Veksler Academy of Music and Dance, and serving as a liturgical keyboardist at Catholic parishes in the San Jose Diocese. By 2015, I knew that I was still crazy enough about music to pursue graduate studies and needed to further elevate my pianistic abilities. I wound up doing my masters in keyboard studies at San Jose State University working with Frank Levy who musically and philosophically expanded my perception of what was possible in the practice room as well as the concert stage.
Moving North to Alberta, Canada
I graduated from SJSU in 2018 and moved to Canada to pursue a doctorate at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. It actually started as a joke the previous Summer while visiting my relatives there. My aunt half-seriously suggested that I look into the music program and trade California sunshine for the majestic Alberta tundra. -40 degrees celsisus!!! Well, I actually did look up the website and visited the Fine Arts Building, obtaining the contact info of my eventual mentor, Jacques Despres from the very kind office administrator, Satoko. Before formally accepting the UofA’s offer to study, I traveled to Canada during Spring break to have a lesson with him. That rather frigid evening in late March 2018, Dr. Despres generously gave me a lesson on Ravel’s Scarbo and Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, and after that, the decision was made. I knew I wanted him to be my mentor on this final chapter of my graduate studies in music.
The Fine Arts Building - FAB - at the University of Alberta
Tragedy Strikes! Zoom Piano Lessons Were Lifeline.
Life is a series of ups and downs, a sinusoidal curve as a friend had once aptly put it, and while pursuing studies in Canada was certainly a peak, the pandemic, with its massive upheaval of society, was most certainly a valley. Fortunately, the UofA provided a caring and supportive environment, even virtually, and we were able to navigate an unprecedented school year with Zoom lectures and online piano lessons. And these virtual teaching skills that I had honed came in handy as I had to soon navigate some challenges that were far more personal.
Another tragedy was looming... For years my dad had been dealing with an underlying progressive lung disease, and midway through the pandemic, his condition became increasingly unstable. By early 2022, his health was in steep decline, and I had to frequently travel back and forth between Canada and California to help my parents manage the situation at home. The timing was rather providential because the UofA was still delivering some music courses in a hybrid format. Very kindly the department chair, Bill Street, permitted me to continue to teaching my keyboard fundamentals class remotely from California while helping to care for my dad. Ultimately, I did have to take a leave of absence in early 2023 to be with my dad in end stage of his life. In the final analysis, nothing matters more than family, the bonds we share with our loved ones.
Holding hands in a time of crisis.
Midwestern Detours to the Cornfields of Iowa
Oh and by the way, did I mention that all this time, I had been in a long distance relationship? So that was another reason for my unreasonably restless lifestyle. The things we do for love. I had met my lovely girlfriend-at-the-time-and-now wife, Alice, at the Semper Music Festival in Italy, 2016. After 3 weeks of attending concerts, participating in masterclasses and performances, we really formed a connection and tried to do long distance. Well, something must have gone right, because we are still together to this day. So since 2016, I have been flying around from California, to Iowa (where Alice was stationed), and Canada (where I studied and worked). Post-2020, online piano lessons helped ensure that I was able to both work and study continuously while being on the go. I have unintentionally become a musical nomad and zoom piano lessons seems to have fit my very strange, irrationally difficult but richly blessed lifestyle. I have continued to experience a slow and steady development of my online music teaching studio, and there’s much more on the way. I’ll give y’all a bit of a status report and look into the future in the final (for now) installment of Online Piano Teaching Chronicles.
Anton and Alice at Lake Louise, May 2022.