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MONTGOMERY ACADEMY “WHERE YOU CAN BE YOURSELF” Basking Ridge, NJ www.montgomeryacademyonline.org 908-766-0362 $ ! ! # " " ! ! PIANO WORKSHOP AT CHESTER 415 State Route 24, Suite B, Chester 908-955-3022 www.thepianoworkshopatchester.com Mark Weisman, Director A wide range of programs, instruments and an extraordinary culture of talented music teachers is what makes the Piano Workshop at Chester exceptional as they celebrate their 10th year. “We have consis- tently been raising the bar enabling stu- dents to become passionate about making music,” says Mark Weisman. With 14 teachers, all with degrees or advanced degrees in music or education related fields, the Piano Workshop at Chester provides private lessons in Piano, Voice, Guitar, Drums and Woodwinds to over 200 students in the Chester and sur- rounding areas including Long Valley, Mendham, Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Far Hills and Randolph. Last year Piano Workshop had 23 stu- dents who won awards at various Piano festivals and competitions. Six of whom qualified to perform at Carnegie Hall. An opportunity of a lifetime! “All of our teachers have different strengths and styles of teaching, and all students have their own agenda and learn- ing style,” Weisman says. “We pride our- selves on the fact that we are able to match each student to a particular teacher based on goals, experience and learning styles.” This past winter Piano Workshop stu- dents participated in their own “Canon in D” project, where students of different ages and abilities played the same piece, and made a wonderful video. This summer the Piano Workshop rock Band got to perform at Mendham H.S. Relay for Life event. Videos of both of these projects can be seen on their You Tube channel (The Piano Workshop at Chester). “A lot of parents consider music a life skill, especially for the younger kids,” Weis- man says. “It all relates to math and science and reading and lots of times people who learn to read music have higher math and reading scores in high school.” “Ultimately, my big inspiration is keep- ing kids excited about music and loving how to learn it,” says Weisman. “We instill that culture to the teachers we bring in: Be cool with the kids, know how to teach them, get them engaged and know how to communicate.” Compared with other music education programs, “We have bet- ter, more experienced teachers and ecstatic parents,” says Weisman. Weisman graduated from New York University in 1975 with degrees in music education and musicology and went on to study piano with some of the most esteemed professionals in the industry. He also has performed throughout the tri-state area in high-profile piano engagements at New York City’s Marriot Marquis and the “W” hotels and conducts and/or performs in a plethora of community theater and high school musical productions all over the local area. Recently he just opened his second loca- tion in Ridgewood with one of his co teach- ers as a partner, where in addition to private lessons they are New Jersey’s only author- ized dealer of the world class Petrof Pianos. For information about setting up a free trial lesson or Petrof Pianos, the Piano Workshop at Chester can be reached at 908-955-3022. Email: director@th epi- anoworkshopatchester.com Website: thep- ianoworkshopatchester.com