Q. Tell us about your history with the piano

A.  I've been piano oriented all my life. My mother was a piano teacher and she started teaching me at age four when I showed interest in music. I became a piano major at USC but left school to get married, work and raise a family. My formal music education ended when I was a sophomore in college but during the following years I was the chapel pianist at the school I was teaching at, and continued to accompany glee clubs, play for weddings, attend concerts, teach my son to play, and years later, accompany my granddaughter who is a violinist. Three years ago I started taking piano lessons again.

Q. Why did you start lessons again?

A.  I said to myself, if not now, when? I come from a musical family with lots of cousins who play the piano. Every three months we'd have a musical evening where we'd perform for each other and until three years ago, I was only a bystander. I decided it's about time I joined in because I'm as good as everyone else but I'm just not showing it. I needed guidance so I called a local college and got a list of teachers and selected one who works with adults.

Q. What value do you get from studying with a teacher?

A. My commitment of time and money to study with a teacher has provided me with an important incentive and goal.  I'm studying with a professional who measures my progress and corrects my mistakes. My technique had slipped very badly and I had been replaying all my bad habits that hadn't been eradicated in my youth. The change in my playing over the last three years has been dramatic. For the first two years I worked on duo piano repertoire. It was a wonderful way of getting back to playing again, and performing in public wasn't a problem because I was playing with someone else. I'm surprised by my progress after a couple of hours of applied practice every day. Now I'm playing solo which I never thought I'd dare do. When I was young I'd get very nervous about playing in public but now I'm playing for my pleasure and I'm anxious to share it with others. I'm no longer a bystander and music means 100% more to me now than it did before.  I've advanced far beyond my original expectations and it's given me a great sense of gratification and accomplishment.

Q. In addition to your lessons, do you participate in other musical activities?

A.  Yes. I belong to a masterclass which is a very important part of my life. We meet once a month and three members play for a guest master teacher. Many teachers belong to the group but not all members are teachers. It's a wonderful peer group and we've been to numerous home recitals where we have an opportunity to interact with the artists. All of this has intensified my enjoyment of music. Now I have many friends who are musicians. This wasn't the case before when my husband and I were out there by ourselves going to concerts.

Q. How does the masterclass work?

A. The masterclasses are scheduled on a yearly basis from September to June. Then participants are mailed the programs stating the performers, repertoire and master teachers. If you're a performer you work very hard to prepare for your masterclass. After your performance, the master teacher gives you a 30-minute critique that includes what is good and what can be improved. Then the audience is given an opportunity to provide feedback. All of this information is very valuable. I tape my performance and remarks so I can implement the suggestions at home. Lots of learning goes on even if you're not a performer. We bring our own scores and the master teacher expounds on topics such as technique, genre, structure and composer. We follow along and make notes on our score. In addition to learning a lot and having fun, we observe other people's growth.

Q. I'd like to ask you one non-musical question. What is an educational therapist?

A.  An educational therapist works with people with learning disabilities. I started out as a teacher and then decided to go into educational therapy. My clients are children with disabilities such as dyslexia, attention deficit disorder and problems with reading, math, memory or comprehension. They come to my home studio and I'm able to set my own schedule. I'm lucky because that gives me time to arrange my practice schedule.

Q. Is the music tradition being carried out in your family?

A.  Absolutely! My husband enjoys music and started taking piano lessons six months ago. We now vie for piano time at home. My son is a pianist and composer and my daughter is a sculptor. I have six granddaughters who are accomplished in music and dance. In fact, accompanying my granddaughter who plays the violin was one of the factors that spurred me on to take lessons again. Music has added a beautiful dimension to my life and I'm hoping to carry on with it to a deeper and deeper level. I can't wait to play my piano because it makes me feel so good.