A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW OUR TEAM OF TEACHERS CAME TO BE...
Founder Scott Patrick McGowan first began providing lessons in students' homes in 1993. When a waiting list developed a year or so later, he and his now first late wife Harlene responded by writing and producing a 2 hour instructional video entitled "Discover the Magic Keys to Piano Playing with Mr. Scott" in 1995 which was the subject of a 1995 feature article in the Baltimore Sunday Sun.
She soon joined him by taking students on his waiting list, which only grew as a result of the publicity regarding their instructional video.
When a joint waiting list developed, in 1997 she convinced Scott that they should begin to hire and train a team of additional travelling instructors.
For 20 years, they headed up a team of dozens of instructors at any given time, who for the vast majority of those years, were travelling to the homes of upwards of 200 and 300 weekly students.
Through various phases of this music school business, Scott has continued to employ additional instructors - through the sudden, unexpected passing of Harlene in 2017, through the advent of remote instruction in 2020 and now involving his new bride, Kathy who as of early 2024 has joined her husband, Scott who has been working with as many as 60 mostly remote students in his decades long mission of spreading the joy of music...
Working with beginner piano students of all ages, providing in person lessons with her students as well as administrative and customer service support in the home office, Scott and Kathy now head up a more limited team of both travelling and remote instructors...
OUR TEAM OF INSTRUCTORS
Alyse Pullen
Alyse Pullen has been teaching piano for 12 years total and 10 years as a Music Educator in the Ohio Public and Private Schools. She has had extensive experience in teaching marching, concert, and beginning band. Professionally, she has pursued a career in Music Education but found that my true calling is helping individual learners reach their musical goals.
Her major instruments in college were both clarinet and piano and she participated also in a professional orchestra and community bands as well as playing for many churches in central Ohio. In music theory, she has composed and arranged instrumental music and one was even performed by the Ohio Capitol Winds.
Outside of her musical goals, Alyse enjoys hiking, biking, reading, crocheting, cooking, gardening, and walking her two dogs, Cooper and Ella. Ella is a Yorkie and Cooper is a Goldendoodle. They are a funny pair!
She and her husband of two years are expecting our first baby to add to our musical family!
Alyse joined our staff in the summer of 2023 and looks forward to working with remote students in the Baltimore Metro area.
Christina Pinder
Irina Lemberg Irina started learning to play piano at age 7. studied piano at music school for 7 years then went on to a music college where she graduated after 4 years with a degree in piano education. She then continued her studies at a University where she received her master's degree in Music and Literature. She has been teaching students of all ages to play piano for more than 20 years and has been on Scott's staff for nearly 15 years. Irina shares that she finds pleasure in watching her students mastering skills and gaining more musical knowledge playing compositions of different genres and levels of complexity.
Jocelyn Hollins - Jocelyn started playing the piano at the age of 13, and majored in Music Education at Frostburg State University. She graduated from Frostburg State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree. Between mothering, and working full time as an early childhood educator, she has been teaching piano lessons for over 10 years. Jocelyn hopes to convey the love of music as she teaches, and believes that playing the piano can be rewarding, fulfilling, and relaxing.
Kaoru Minagawa
Kaoru Minagawa was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan. She learned piano for 12 years with Mrs. Kayono Nagata who is the current Director of Suzuki Method Japan.
Kaoru took summer music courses at Musashino Academia Musicae in Japan when she was a high schooler.
In 1996, she worked for master class lessons in Japan for Prof. Dorensky who was the Director of Moscow Conservatory and long-time jury at the International Chopin Competition and Tchaikovsky Competition. She also worked for Russian musicians who are winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition and others. This experience inspired her to teach students, especially at an advanced level.
In the summer of 2023, she took lessons with Mr. Takashi Yasunami who won the 1st prize at the International Schubert Competition in 2021, to brush up her piano and teaching skills.
Kaoru has lived in Russia, U.K., and New Zealand.
Apart from piano she teaches Japanese. She has taught at Towson University, Japan Society of Boston, and other places. She currently works at Washington Japanese School.
MORE TEAM MEMBERS
Marie Captain - Marie holds a degree in Piano and Composition from Queens College NY. She studied Classical Piano with Jan Gorbaty a Polish Classical Concert Pianist. She is a performer who plays in rock, jazz, pop, and Broadway pit bands. As a studio musician she was written 3 CD’s under the artist name M.Captain which can be located on SPOTIFY. She has directed and musically directed over 65 Shows. Many of her students are in the Entertainment Field, Broadway, TV, Opera, and Pop artists. She also teaches, guitar, ukulele and song writing.
Maestro Cory A. Parkinson - Maestro Parkinson - Maestro Cory A. Parkinson (1989- ) is a gifted, multi-award-winning composer (member of ASCAP), an avid vocal performer (Bass-Baritone), an inspiring conductor, and a versatile pianist, both solo and collaboratively. He has performed with the Downers Grove Choral Society and was invited to perform with the acclaimed Aspen/Glenwood Springs Choral Society. He has performed in several solo vocal recitals under his voice teacher Holley McKee. He has also studied voice with Robert Holst and Stephen West at the University of Michigan. Cory has performed with numerous choirs as accompanist and as a singer, has performed in solo piano recitals under his piano teachers John Connolly and Belford Hernandez, as well as playing piano duets with Belford Hernandez, and filling in as rehearsal accompanist for his high school&# choirs. She studied piano with Ra-Jung Yang at the University of Michigan and has been a