About Us

IOANA FLONTA-RANDALL | FOUNDER AND PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Mrs. Flonta- Randall is a well-versed pianist and piano teacher. She started specializing in piano at the age of 7. She attended the Sigismund Toduta Music School for grades 1-12 and continued with her Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In 2011, she moved to the U.S., where she earned her Certificate and Master's Degree in Piano Performance on a full tuition scholarship at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, where she studied with Dr. Laura Melton.

Ioana has built a vast performing experience as a soloist, accompanist, and chamber music player. She has performed numerous recitals in Europe and the US, and earned prizes at competitions in Europe and the US. Her experience includes collaborations with strings (violin, viola, cello), singers (solo and choir), wood-winds (flute, bassoon, tuba), and ensembles (piano at 4 hands, violin group, church band). During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ioana has performed remote solo recitals for the patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital, as a member of The Volunteer Musicians for the Arts, Inc.

In her 15+ years of teaching experience, Mrs. Flonta-Randall has taught more than 200+ students of all ages and levels. At the age of 19, Ioana began teaching individual private piano lessons to children and adults. Also, while attaining her Master's degree, she taught group piano lessons for college level music majors. Since 2014, when she relocated to the Boston area, she has been teaching piano full time to students of all levels, ranging from preschool to adults, both in-person and remotely. Mrs. Flonta-Randall's approach to teaching is creating a curriculum that covers all the aspects needed in developing a strong foundation: technique book that develops healthy habits; lesson book that introduces new concepts at every lesson; theory book that reinforces the concepts learned in the lesson though writing; and fun songs that are chosen by the student in order to motivate them learn the songs they love. Moreover, Mrs. Flonta-Randall strongly believes that the art of music goes beyond just playing the notes correctly and with the correct rhythm. Therefore, her students are taught from very early on about creating different "musical colors" through dynamic and articulation variety, as well as phrasing and pedal use.

A few teaching methods that Mrs. Flonta-Randall recommends and follows include Piano Adventures and Adult Piano Adventures, by Nancy and Randall Faber; the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Certification Program; Alfred's Scales, Chords, Arpeggios & Cadences; Fundamentals of Piano Theory; fun songs and pieces of all styles that are suited to each student's level. Her varied experience and diverse background enables Ioana to adapt her teaching style based on each student's unique needs and personality.

Mrs. Flonta-Randall's students’ achievements include earning 1st and 2nd prizes along with Honorable mentions at the Judged Festival organized by the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association (MMTA); obtaining outstanding results at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) practical exams, including First Class Honors with Distinction; and performing at the renown Carnegie Hall in New York.

Mrs. Flonta-Randall is a member of the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association (MMTA), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and The Volunteer Musicians for the Arts, Inc.

Yu-an chen | in-home Piano Teacher

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Yu-An is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate with Elinor Watson Bell Fellowship at University of Minnesota under Professor Alexander Braginsky. She was a teaching assistant from 2018 to 2021 at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, specializing in piano performance. She taught group piano classes and individual lessons to both non-music and music major students.

Teaching and learning with students is always a passion for Yu-An. She believes that every student has a talent in a different area. Based on the students' experience with piano, Yu-An made adjustments and designed a plan following Alfred’s Group Piano Book 1, Book 2, and Keyboard Strategies: A Piano Series For Group by Melvin Stecher, Norman Horowitz, Claire Gordon, R. Fred Kern, E. L. Lancaster. At the end of each semester, the students will perform in a live recital, where their beloved friends and family were invited to enjoy the music together.

Yu-An earned a Master of Music degree and a Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, studying with Benjamin Pasternack, in Baltimore. During her piano career at Peabody, she was awarded Frances M. Wentz Turner Prize in Piano for musicality.

Between 2017-18, Yu-An took one year off to teach in China, Shanghai, and Soochow. She maintained a thriving private studio and regularly led piano workshops at two different music academies, especially for young students. Her ultimate goal in teaching is to guide every student on the journey toward a lifelong love of playing the piano and enjoying the music.

Yu-An's teaching philosophy is to observe and respond to each individual student’s abilities and give helpful feedback to each of them. For the young students, Yu-An started with Faber Primer Level lesson book, PreTime Piano Disney, Bastien piano basic primer level, or a familiar song such as Merry had a Little Lamb or Old MacDonald Had a Farm, depending on student’s ages and interests. Some of her students' achievements include Yamaha Grade 12 and Grade 11 Examination for piano.

Ms. Chen was the winner of the Japanese Classical Music Competition in Tokyo, was the winner of the Miami Music Festival Concerto Competition, and received an honorable mention at University of Minnesota Concerto Competition and at the Elain Liu Memorial Scholarship Academic Award in Saint Paul.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTwwIkCOWtG6VLotYjJ03XQ

ARIANNA GIESBRECHT | on-line PIANO TEACHER

"Producing music of rare quality" (The Philippine Star), Arianna Giesbrecht, a Young Steinway Artist, is a recent graduate of the highly selective Accelerated B.M./M.M. Program at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Jerome Lowenthal and Hung-Kuan Chen. Arianna has appeared in performance ranging from a piano arrangement of the national anthem at the Cleveland Indians Home Opener to a performance of Chopin's Concerto No. 2 with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christopher Wilkins who exclaimed that "Arianna displayed great poise, polish and musical instinct."

Arianna won first prizes in international competitions including the Fifth Julia Crane International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists and the David D. Dubois Piano Competition. She was one of only eighteen recipients nationwide under the age of 18 to have been selected as a 2011 Davidson Fellow by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. Recognized by the United States Senate, her achievements were entered into the Congressional Record on October 6, 2011.

An award-winning and avid chamber musician, Arianna was named one of the Rembrandt Young Artists at the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition in Chicago and received the Live From Lincoln Center “Outstanding Student Performance Award”. Arianna's numerous performances include Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in NYC, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and the Ecoles d'Art Américaines at Château Fontainebleau, France. She regularly performs with her husband, Robin Giesbrecht as a duo piano team.

As a teacher, it is a rewarding experience for Arianna to share her musical aspirations and abilities with her students and to work with them in achieving their individual goals of learning basic piano technique, understanding music theory, and implementing musical interpretation and expression in their playing. She is passionate about the growth of all students and believes in creating and fostering a positive environment where her students have the ability to grow as both musicians and individuals.

Erin Janke | in-home Piano Teacher

Erin Janke is a pianist, harpist, and composer, and has been teaching private students for 4 years. The daughter of a pastor and a music teacher, Erin began playing the piano at a young age and soon began performing and accompanying in church.

From the age of 10, Erin began performing for weddings and parties with her harp, growing her business until she attended college. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Harp Performance, then went on to earn a master’s degree in Music Composition.

She now performs regularly for events in the Boston area, while composing and arranging in her spare time. Erin loves to help her students explore their creative side in making music and to have fun in their music lessons!