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Katy’s musical journey began at ten years old, when she started piano lessons. As her love for music grew, she began her teaching career at twelve by giving lessons to two friends. She soon after began composing, and during high school joined a youth composition program called Young Composers Project, which is offered by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduating high school, she pursued a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with Dr. Fanya Lin at the University of Arizona, graduating with honors in 2023. She is also set to graduate with her Master of Music in Piano Performance in 2025. As a pianist, Katy has performed in numerous events and competitions. For three consecutive years, she was named alternate in the Fred Fox School of Music Presidents Concert Concerto Competition. In 2021 and 2023 she won second and first place, respectively, in the school’s Michael Moore Memorial Piano Competition. She also placed third and won the audience prize in the Trester Piano Competition in 2023. Since the beginning of Katy’s teaching career at twelve, she has developed a passion for teaching students of all ages how to make and love music at the piano. It continually excites her to see her students grasp concepts and techniques and become better musicians. During college, her teaching experience expanded as she took first a tutoring position and then a graduate teaching assistantship in undergraduate music theory. It is always her goal to make music understandable and achievable for her students with individualized instruction and a positive learning environment. Composition also remains one of Katy’s greatest musical interests. Since graduating from the Young Composers Project, her main focus has been releasing albums of original instrumental music. Her goal is to create emotionally compelling and uplifting music that tells stories and takes the listeners on an inspiring journey. She also hopes to explore film scoring in the future. When she is not working on music, Katy enjoys reading books, watching movies, and spending time with family, friends, and her husband Stephen.
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piano composition 85716
PAULETTE ALBERTSON, NCTM
I am retired and am no longer taking students.
Alexander Tentser
Bio
www.tentser.com
Alexander began studying piano with his father at the age of four in Kiev, Ukraine. After a highly acclaimed performance of the Grieg’s Piano Concerto at age twelve, he was recommended for studies at the Gnessin Music College in Moscow, Russia, the oldest music college in the country. He continued his piano education at the Gnessin Russian Music Academy with Professor Theodor Gutmann, a student and assistant of Heinrich Neuhaus, one of the most important piano pedagogues and performers of the 20th century. Alexander teaches in the great Russian piano tradition focusing on developing technique through the natural physical movements and beautiful piano tone through the method of relaxation and mindful control.
Alexander made his American orchestral debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Concerto #4. He has also performed as a piano soloist with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Sierra Vista Symphony, Catalina Chamber Orchestra, Arizona Symphonic Winds and Lake Placid Sinfonietta.
Tentser and his wife Anna Gendler performed as a violin and piano duo in the Dame Myra Hess Music Series in Chicago, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music Series in Tucson, and they have also frequently appeared with the Daystar Chamber Ensemble and St. Michael’s Chamber Players performing piano trios, quartets, and quintets with various other Tucson musicians.
Alexander graduated from the University of Arizona with a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance where he studied with Professor Nohema Fernandez. He was a winner of the University of Arizona President’s Concerto Competition. Presently, Tentser teaches music courses at Pima Community College Orchestra in Tucson and maintains a private piano studio of children and adult students.