We believe that quality teachers are essential to quality
instruction. All of our teachers are certified
Yamaha Instructors. To become certified, teachers must
pass comprehensive exams and undergo over 100 hours of
training. In addition, teachers must submit videos of
their classes 3 separate times for evaluation by certified
Yamaha Music Education Specialists, who provide feedback
on teaching technique and style, as well as lesson plan
content and homework assignments. As curricula is
updated, teachers receive updated training.
All of our teacher have or
are in the process of obtaining college music degrees.
Tina
Darden,
a graduate of Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, has a
Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance/Pedagogy. She is
also a graduate of Florida State University, where she
earned her Master of Music in Piano Performance/Pedagogy.
Tina has been teaching the Yamaha method in Atlanta since
1992. She has been a Yamaha Music Education Specialist,
which qualifies her to teach other teachers, since 2002.
Tina teaches Yamaha classes at Atlanta Music Education
Center and teaches private piano lessons at New School of
Music. She is the pianist for McKendree United Methodist
Church in Lawrenceville and is the accompanist for the
Atlanta Suzuki Flute Choir. Tina is an active member of
GCMTA and GMTA.
Suellen Stroup,
pictured with her family,
has a degree in Music Education with a proficiency in voice
and a minor in piano. She has taught piano and voice since
1994 and Yamaha since 2000. In addition, she is a certified
Kindermusik teacher and has taught it since 1999.
Margaret Maurice
is passionate about teaching
music and piano, which she has been doing for over 10 years.
She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in
music from Atlanta Christian College with a concentration in
piano and music ministry and also studied piano pedagogy as
a graduate student at Georgia State University School of
Music.
Currently, she is the
general music teacher of the elementary school and choral
director of the middle school at St. Martin's Episcopal
School. Since
2006, she has also been teaching within the Yamaha Music
Education System. Previously, Margaret has been on the piano
faculty at DeKalb School of the Arts and The Lovett School
in Atlanta, GA.
Tsuey Wei Seah
Tsuey Wei Seah is pursuing a double major in Music
Performance and Music Education at Kennesaw State
University. Seah was the 2009 Georgia Music Hall of Fame
Talent Search Scholarship winner. In spring 2009, she was
chosen as a KSU University Scholar for music education
majors, and she was also the recipient of a GMEA College
Music Education Scholarship. Other awards and honors
include the KSU School of Music Concerto Competition
finalist (’09), Steinway Society Scholarship (’07),
the David Watkins Piano Performance Endowed
Scholarship (‘07), KSU Honor Recitals (’07, ’08), and GMTA
Outstanding Performer (’07). She has performed in master
classes with international pianist Chu-Fang Huang,
Christopher Hardings, and Robert Henry.
A native of
Malaysia, Seah’s accomplishments include
Grade 8 Pianoforte and Theory
certificates from the Royal
School of Music. She is a lifetime member of Pi
Kappa Lambda Honor Society.
