Experience Summary
QUALIFICATIONS:
A.T.C.L. (Associate of Trinity College London) in classical guitar performance.
This is an internationally recognized recital diploma and permits only the highest standards of excellence in all aspects of musicianship. Namely, among other disciplines, interpretation, execution, technique, aural awareness, and historical
knowledge and accuracy.
A.I.R.M.T.(N.Z.) (Associate of the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand)
To have the honor of being admitted to this Institute, the teacher must go far beyond mere textbook learning. This diploma guarantees that the approved Associate has been rigidly assessed and able to demonstrate tangible proof of a long and impeccable teaching career and has already achieved a visible concrete outstanding success across the board at every
level on their specialist instrument/s.
A combination, then, of these two diplomas covers both strands and forms an ironclad seal of utmost professionalism for any parent or future employer to seriously consider, and it annuls the possibility of hiring an incompetent musician though well-intentioned teacher, or, vice versa, an adequate musician but inexperienced teacher.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
St. John Vianney School, Kansas 2012 – 2013
A small private Catholic country school in which I taught grades three through twelve folk song, Gregorian chant and early music recorder ensemble.
Nga Tawa (Wellington Diocesan School for girls), New Zealand 1997 – 2011
This historically elite Anglican girls' private boarding high school sets only the very highest of educational standards offering the International Baccalaureate. No underachieving teacher lasts more than one year in such a rarefied genteel environment. The music department alone rates as the finest I have ever seen. This being the case, I felt musically very much at home there.
Wanganui Collegiate School, New Zealand 1999 – 2011
This private Christian day/boarding school is of near legendary status and rubs shoulders comfortably with its famous British twin counterparts, Eton and Harrow. Some years before I began teaching in the school, His Royal Highness, Prince Edward of England, also tutored there. As the Royal House of Windsor does not lend its sons lightly, this alone encapsulates the tone
and prestige which the school commands and is amply mirrored by the dedication and expertise of the teachers who uphold it.
Such is the pristine worldwide reputation and esteem in which these two above named schools are held that parents, literally from all points of the compass, hold it a privilege to entrust their children to them. Thus, in return, it has been my privilege to teach students from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, the United States and beyond. To succeed, as I have, demands a broad and deep cultural/ethnic understanding and sympathy which would be impossible to convey without mastering finely honed communication skills and the ability to build trust, confidence, and rapport in order to inspire the student to achieve his or her personal utmost.
St. Dominic's Roman Catholic High School, New Zealand 1997 – 2000
From a purely practical teaching perspective, this school was identical to St. John Vianney School. What stamps the musical mark of these two smaller intimate schools, however, is that I was able to instruct with greater freedom on the paramount importance of the students listening to good music only, which meets the natural order in due proportion of melody, harmony and rhythm. Counter wise, warning them of the dangers of inferior music.
Self-employed private practice 1996 – Present
When teaching tete-a-tete, either on guitar or recorder, my lessons are based on the time honored, proven and globally lauded syllabus, consisting of eight levels or “grades” (independent of any one particular country's school system) of either the Trinity College of London or, more commonly, the A.B.R.S.M. (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music). This is logical, methodical and balanced.