We’ve recently had several talented individuals join the team at Music Teacher’s Helper blog. We thought it would be a good time to introduce everybody to them, so you can put a face with the posts you read. Here we are - the old faces as well as the new (and some without faces because don’t have pictures yet). 
Brandon Pearce
Brandon Pearce is a piano teacher, choral director, computer programmer, and entrepreneur from Murray, Utah, and is also the creator of Music Teacher’s Helper. As his teaching studio grew, he found it increasingly difficult to keep track of how much each student owed. Having recently received a B.S. in Computer Science from Weber State University, he decided to write a web-based computer program to manage billing and scheduling in his studio. Realizing that he wasn’t alone in his studio management frustrations, he soon made the service available to other teachers. And they loved it! Since 2003, several additional programmers, and hundreds of teachers from around the world have participated in creating the world-class studio management software you know today as Music Teacher’s Helper.
Brandon currently spends his time managing and improving Music Teacher’s Helper, as well as doing freelance web design for other individuals and businesses. He has cut his studio down to 1 student (his wife), but still enjoys playing the piano, singing, and arranging/composing when he gets the chance. He is also the assistant director of the Oratorio Society of Utah, a 90+ year old choral organization that performs Handle’s Messiah each year, as well as other choral masterworks.
Ed Pearlman
Ed Pearlman studied with members of the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, and performed in the Yale Symphony and the Boston Philharmonic (a quality but nonprofessional orchestra). He continued his interest in classical music after the 1980s but focused primarily on exploring non-classical fiddle music, directing the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club for 18 years in monthly workshops for up to 75 players of all levels, and leading annual concerts; also directing, performing, and teaching at festivals, summer camps, and teaching private lessons since 1980. He has worked with a variety of styles in addition to classical and Scottish and Cape Breton, including Irish, American fiddle, jazz, French-Canadian, klezmer, and Hungarian. He currently teaches private lessons and classes 4 days a week and performs gigs with a family band and others. Ed writes the music column for Scottish Life magazine.
Michelle Payne
Michelle Payne is currently a private music teacher in Los Angeles, CA. In her past she has held such prestigious titles as coffee barista, hosiery clerk, bookseller, and social worker. Being a music teacher definitely beats all and is by far what she is most passionate about. For the past 3 years, since moving to L.A., Michelle has built a growing practice of 34 students and 6 group classes. She keeps her work interesting by creating new music games for her students and creating new marketing strategies to keep parents interested. Michelle is excited to be on the Music Teacher’s Helper Blog, because she is always interested in sharing what she knows with, and learning from, other teachers. Michelle is currently working on a podcast for music teachers called “The Modern Music Teacher”. Look out for it on itunes.
Ronnie Currey
My name is Ronnie Currey and I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee moving to the Denver area from Atlanta in 2000. Upon my arrival to Colorado I was hired by a Denver computer company as a sales executive, and within three months I was promoted to manager. After nine months residing in Denver, I had signed up thirty private music students by leaving pamphlets at a local music store, and had to resign from my computer job. I currently teach between 30 and 45 students on guitar, piano, bass guitar and voice, and continue to get new students every month. Music Teacher’s Helper (MTH) has been a large factor in attracting new students while satisfying the needs of the current students and parents, not to mention the relief from MTH in scheduling and cancelling lessons, emailing me notes to review on a student from the previous lesson, and bookkeeping. I now spend very little time managing my studio and the music business.
At age 8 I started piano lessons, and by 12 years old, I became a church organist and choir director for a 300 member church. When Beatlemania hit at age 14, I was motivated to learn guitar and bass guitar while continuing with piano lessons. I started teaching guitar and piano students at age 16 and attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where I received a B.S. degree in Music Education and Psychology. In 2004 I received a teaching license and certification in music K-12 from the Colorado Department of Education. I have taught technolgy and music in the Douglas County School District in the Denver metro area since 2002.
I continue to teach high school music and technology as well as teaching private students on guitar, piano, bass guitar and voice. I currently have 40 private music students and give MTH quite a workout. The website makes it possible for me to handle a heavy schedule and still have free time. I look forward to sharing ways I operate my studio busisness, recruitment, and using MTH to manage my business. I also look forward in your experiences and suggestions, as teachers can always learn from each other.
Amy Gould
Singer and Voice Teacher, Amy Gould has performed for numerous audiences around the western Michigan area. She is a vocalist and flutist with the 126 Army Band from Wyoming, Michigan and has performed as a guest artist with the Grand Rapids Symphonic Band. She has also performed with the Grand Rapids Opera Chorus and as a substitute for The Musekgon Camarata Singers.
Throughout her teaching career of more than ten years, Amy has helped hundreds of students to improve their voices and reach their singing goals. She holds a B.A. in Vocal Music Performance from Michigan State University and has studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She has also attended master classes in vocal pedagogy by Richard Miller and acting by Mark Taslitt.
Currently, she teaches private voice lessons and directs the VSA Adult Choir for adults with special needs. She also writes and produces her own podcast and blog to help singers (of all styles and ability levels) improve their singing.
Janice Lynn Roach
Janice Lynn Roach has a Bachelor of Music Education Degree as well as a Texas Teaching Certificate for grades 1-12, and is working on her masters in Music Education. In public schools she has taught grades 6-10, as well as the Community College level. She has taught privately in music stores and at her home for over 40 years.
In addition to teaching, she is also a leader of a Contemporary Praise and Worship band in Church, and has been working with computer generated music, both sequencing and notation, since 1993.
One of her passions is music theory, and she is excited to share her ideas and experiences with other teachers through blogging. Theory can be a difficult area in teaching and is one that can most certainly utilize technology.
Janice was also in the Professional Music Entertainment profession for about 20 years in addition to her teaching.
Welcome!
We’d like to welcome all our new bloggers, and look forward to providing you (music teachers) with even more useful resources and teaching tools, as well as a community to share your own ideas with other teachers. Thank you!
