Classical piano, voice and theory — taught on a C. Bechstein grand.
A growing home studio for students from age five, preparing Royal Conservatory Preparatory through Level 8. Every student I have prepared for an exam has earned First Class Honours.
A growing home studio for students from age five, preparing Royal Conservatory Preparatory through Level 8. Every student I have prepared for an exam has earned First Class Honours.
Weekly one-to-one lessons in classical piano and voice, from complete beginners through Level 8. Theory and choral coaching can also be booked on their own.
Piano lessons are the core of the studio. Beginners start with comfortable, functional hand position and music reading from the first lesson, and we build toward the point where a student can pick up a new piece and work it out on their own. Students who want to take Royal Conservatory exams are prepared thoroughly; students who don't are never pushed into them.
Classical vocal training — breath, tone, diction, technique, ear training, sight singing, choral singing and repertoire — including thorough preparation for Royal Conservatory of Music voice examinations. I should be straightforward about this: I teach classical singing only, not pop or contemporary styles. It's what I trained in and what I'm good at, and anyone wanting contemporary instruction will do better with a teacher who specializes in it.
Studying both usually means finding two teachers. Because I hold Level 10 in both piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music, a student can work on them within a single lesson, with one teacher following their progress across both. The two reinforce each other more than people expect: singing a line teaches a pianist about phrasing and breath, while working at the keyboard strengthens a singer's reading and makes learning new repertoire faster and more independent.
Theory is what turns a student from someone who plays the notes into someone who understands them, and it's a requirement for the higher practical grades. I work with theory students who study their instrument elsewhere, as well as those who study with me.
I'm an active choral singer and a strong sight-reader, and I offer individual coaching for singers working on choral music — learning a part before rehearsals begin, sorting out a difficult entrance or passage, or preparing an audition piece for a choir you'd like to join. These are booked as needed rather than weekly: bring the music you're working on, and we'll focus on whatever will leave you feeling more prepared and independent.
One recent student was an accomplished pianist preparing to begin university-level piano studies. She needed to audition for choir but had never sung before. We started from the beginning with breathing and pitch matching, then introduced solfège so she could read a vocal line directly from the score rather than learning it by ear. From there, we applied those skills to the art song she was preparing for her audition.
Every result from every student I have prepared for an exam, here and at a school where I taught previously — not a selection of the good ones.
I encourage students to take the Royal Conservatory's virtual examinations from my studio rather than travelling to an exam centre. It removes almost everything that makes exam day frightening: no unfamiliar hall, no waiting room, no strange instrument with a different touch. They play the Bechstein they have practised on all year, in a room they know, and it shows in the marks.
Exams are optional. Plenty of students learn happily for years without ever sitting one, and that's a perfectly good way to do it.
In 1999 I won the Rose Bowl at the Peel Music Festival, singing "Rejoice greatly" from Handel's Messiah. A few years after that I stopped singing and playing altogether, and I didn't really start again for about thirty years. Music didn't go anywhere — it just moved to the back of a busy life, the way it does for a lot of people.
What brought me back was my daughter, the soprano Kimberley-Rose Pefhany. She went on maternity leave and needed someone to cover her students, so I stepped in. I expected to hand them all back.
Instead I fell completely for it: the children, the music, and the actual craft of teaching. I enrolled in the Royal Conservatory's Elementary Piano Pedagogy course, came out the other side with a 98, and have taught on and off ever since, privately and at a music school. I am now an RCM Certified Teacher in Elementary Piano, and opening my own studio properly for the first time.
I think arriving here late is part of why I'm decent at it. I know exactly what it's like to sit down at an instrument feeling rusty and self-conscious, and I know what it takes to get past that — because I did it myself, and it worked.
What I push hardest on is sight-reading, theory and a bit of music history, because those are what let a student eventually teach themselves. I'm still studying too: I begin the next level of Royal Conservatory pedagogy in the new year.
Lessons happen at my home on a 104-year-old C. Bechstein grand piano. In spring and autumn, when the weather cooperates, students play a recital in the garden.
RCM Certified Teacher — Elementary Piano, 2026–28
Rose Bowl, Peel Music Festival, 1999 · Next level of RCM pedagogy begins in the new year.
Billed monthly, four lessons at a time. If a fixed weekly slot doesn't suit, tell me — I can usually work something out. Start with a $15 introductory lesson — a real lesson, not a sales meeting. The student plays, I find out where they are, and we work out whether I'm the right teacher for them.
Lessons cancelled with at least 24 hours' notice are made up within the same month. Garden recitals in spring and autumn are included and entirely optional. Exam fees are paid directly to the Royal Conservatory.
Tell me a little about the student and I'll reply within a couple of days with available times.