About Birgit
I hold a degree in piano, and a teaching degree in music and English from Hochschule für Musik Köln (Cologne) and the University of Cologne, Germany. After college, I taught piano and chamber music at community music schools in the Cologne area for more than twenty years and appeared frequently as a collaborative pianist.
Inspired by his book With your own two hands, I began to study with American pianist and teacher Seymour Bernstein in New York City in 1997, hoping to further develop my skills and experience with solo repertoire and performance. In 2001, I accepted a position as a full-time member of the piano faculty at the Concord Community Music School (CCMS) in Concord, New Hampshire. I taught piano, practice- and performance classes; I gave recitals and lectures. I held a composition project for children that was chosen for a poster presentation at the National Conference of MTNA in Toronto in 2007. A highlight among my recitals in the CCMS faculty concert series was the performance of the entire Book 1 of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.
In 2009, I relocated to Maplewood, New Jersey, where I maintain a private studio. In addition to private teaching, I’ve presented lectures at the “Pianophoria!” and “Teen-Pianophoria” Piano Camps and in the adult education program of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City. Outside of the New York City area, I’ve held presentations at the “Sonata” piano camp in Bennigton, Vermont, for the Adult Music Student Forum in Washington DC, the MacPhail Music Center in Minneapolis, MN, the Minneapolis Piano Teachers’ Association, the Pompton Valley Music Teacher’s Association in New Jersey and the Association of Piano Teachers of Long Island.
The music of J. S. Bach holds a special place in my performance repertoire and teaching. In 2013 the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County (ECSC) hosted an extended project featuring the entire second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier. The project ended with a complete performance of the work. In 2019, I started a one-year series of monthly lecture-recitals about all Preludes and Fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier 1, again hosted by ECSC in Maplewood NJ. After the outbreak of the Covid 19 Pandemic I continued the series through postings on YouTube and Facebook Live, with a final live-performance of the entire book on Zoom in November of 2020.
Apart from teaching and performing I also write and occasionally compose for my students. My memoir More than the World in Black and White – How Music came alive and my life became Music (2018) is available on Amazon. A Bear for Emily – a story suite for young piano students – was published by Oceanna Music in 2008. Three more story suites are available and awaiting publication. My Blog Music, Life and other Challenges can be found on blogspot.
Having done extensive research in music education, I’ve published in Ueben und Musizieren in Germany and Keyboard Companion and Clavier Magazine in the United States.
In the 1990s I initiated, organized and supervised chamber music camps for students at community music schools in Cologne, Germany and St. Petersburg, Russia. I’ve also served as adjudicator for student competitions held in the United States, Russia and Germany.
I am a member of Music Teachers’ National Association (MTNA), the Music Educators’ Association of New Jersey and the Leschetizky Association.
