About Me - MDMusicX5

My Bio:

       I was born in West Virginia into a military family.  My Lithuanian mother was an Army nurse in World War I and my father served in the US Navy in both World War I and World War II.  My brother ministered at the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C. and two of my first cousins are Catholic priests in Texas and in Pennsylvania.

       After graduating Tivy High School (Kerrville, TX), I attended Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia) and Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX) where I met my first husband.  I've continued my education throughout my adulthood attending numerous classes, seminars, workshops, and conferences.  I also studied at the New School for American Music (San Francisco, CA) and at Westminister Choir College (Princeton, NJ) where I had the great fortune to study with the legendary pedagogue, Francis Clark.

       I've taught piano almost as long as I can remember -- throughout two marriages, raising four children from the first and blending in three more from the second marriage.  Now with eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, I still thrive on sharing, teaching and influencing students of all ages who are interested in piano.  In 2005, I joined two other lifelong music teachers and founded the Crownridge Music Academy located in northwest San Antonio, TX. In 2016, San Antonio Music Teachers Association named me Teacher of Distinction - a rare honor bestowed for decades of service and commitment to teaching music.

      My strengths and abilities include:  a true gift for teaching, influencing, and instilling the love of music in others;  the ability and desire to always be on the "cutting-edge" of everything - - new teaching theories, new music, new technology;  keeping students interested in piano study;  understanding the personalities of my students;  mentoring other teachers; performing in concerts with friends and family;  nurturing and maintaining deep spiritual values.

       Interests outside the field of music, past and present,  include:   serving on community non-profit boards of directors, modeling under contract with Professional Model for Reflections Modeling Agency in Corpus Christi, TX doing TV commercials, newspaper ads, magazines and runway modeling;  cooking; exercising - - jogging, swimming, hiking and biking in Colorado;  gardening and landscaping with the river rocks around my Hill Country home; entertaining family and friends; studying monthly with the Women's Wisdom Group which started in Corpus Christi, TX led by Dr. Marjorie Barlow; listening to Books on Tape while driving.