The CU Boulder College of Music’s Youth Piano Program is taught by accomplished student members of the Roser Piano + Keyboard Program. Meet the instructors:
Nicholas Brewer
Nicholas Brewer is a pianist, sound artist and educator. They are a specialist in technique and injury recovery using a method informed by sports medicine, physical therapy, calisthenics, psychology and mindfulness.
As a teacher, Brewer strongly believes that anyone can learn anything if they set appropriate goals and approach them in a non-judgmental manner. Furthermore, they believe in educating in a way which encourages all types of students to succeed. Brewer creates tailored teaching plans for their students which touch on every element of music making: technical facility, physical conditioning, mental health, practice methods, musical expression, artistic development, historical context and more.
Lizzie French
Lizzie French is currently working toward a BM in piano performance at the University of Colorado Boulder where she studies with Jennifer Hayghe. She also holds a BA in spanish and speech-language pathology from Indiana University and is an active member of the CU Boulder Collegiate chapter of MTNA. French enjoys teaching both children and adults and believes that studying music should be a creative and collaborative experience. As a teacher, she prioritizes her students’ interests and individual goals while offering them the technique and performance skills they need to become confident, well-rounded musicians.
Sharon Hui
Sharon Hui currently studies with Jennifer Hayghe in pursuit of a BM in piano performance. She teaches students of all ages, with a passion for sharing music and nurturing self-growth, providing structured lessons tailored to the needs of each student. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, currently serving as Vice President for the CU Boulder Collegiate Chapter of MTNA. Hui earned an Associate Diploma in piano performance (ARSM) from the Royal Schools of Music and has won prizes and special awards in the Arizona Piano Institute First Virtual Solo Competition for North America, MTNA/ASMTA Yamaha Senior Piano Competition, Arizona Musicfest Young Musicians Competition, Angelo and Micheline Addona Arizona Young Artist Piano Competition, Steinway/Avanti Future Stars Competition and more. In 2021, Hui performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor with the Musica Nova Orchestra as the first-prize winner of the 2019 Arizona Piano Institute Festival Concerto Competition. Alongside her fellow pianists, Hui has featured works by underrepresented composers through the Hidden Voices project in the American Research Center at CU Boulder. She is also pursuing a Music Technology Certificate, with experience in recording, mixing and mastering recitals at the College of Music. In summer of 2023, she looks forward to attending the Brancaleoni International Festival in Italy.
Jiaze Ma
Jiaze Ma is studying with David Korevaar, pursuing a DMA degree in piano performance at our College of Music. During her youth, she was classically trained by Professor Xie Yuan, chair of the piano department at Tianjin Conservatory of Music, China. Ma has since gained vast performance experience in solo, chamber music settings, and with orchestra. In 2020, Ma earned a Master of Music degree as the distinguished graduate honoree at San Francisco State University (SFSU), studying with Roger Woodward and Victoria Neve.
As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Ma taught music theory and piano classes at SFSU. She has been teaching both private and group piano classes to students at different ages since 2012. She was the winner of numerous competitions, awards, and scholarships, including the 2020 MTAC Pedagogy Award, Carla Ferrando Piano Competition, William Corbett-Jones Piano Competition, SFSU Concerto/Aria Competition and Ross McKee Piano Award. Ma has participated and performed in master classes for the Alexander String Quartet, Christiano Burato, Enrico Elisi, Massimillano Ferrati, Scott McBride Smith, Jeffrey LaDeur, Congcong Chai and Asaf Kleinmann. In the summer of 2019, Ma attended the Conero International Piano Festival in Recannati, Italy.
As an experienced piano instructor, Ma specializes in developing personalized study plans and repertoire to achieve individual goals. She successfully coached students for ABRSM piano, theory, sight-reading, technique and ear-training exams. Ma is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and has attended many teacher trainings and development meetings.
Ma loves teaching students to play piano and enjoys communicating with them through music. Her teaching philosophy is to help students build a solid music foundation and encourage them to be musical and creative while enjoying and having fun with the adventure of learning piano.
James H. Morris
James H. Morris is a classical pianist pursuing a master’s in piano performance at our College of Music. He currently studies with Jennifer Hayghe, the last student of the legendary artist-teacher Adele Marcus. Morris recently graduated cum laude from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, earning bachelor’s degrees in both piano and theory/composition. There, he studied piano with James Goldsworthy and theory/composition with Stefan Young. Morris has been awarded five gold medals by the ACT-SO state competition for New Jersey and three gold medals at the ACT-SO national competition. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, he placed first in the Westminster Piano Competition. Additionally, he placed first in the Westminster Composition Competition in 2019 and second in 2018. He was further a recipient of the Damien Dixon Memorial Scholarship in 2018 and was named the alternate for the New Jersey MTNA Competition Young Artist division in 2019.
J. David Reid
J. David Reid is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he started his musical studies at the age of four. He is a DMA candidate at our College of Music, studying with Jennifer Hayghe. He earned a MM from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he was an Associate Instructor (secondary piano), teaching both class piano and private lessons to both music majors and nonmajors. He completed three undergraduate degrees in piano performance (BM), voice (BA) and business finance (BS) at Louisiana State University, for which he was awarded full endowed and academic merit scholarships. Among these awards, Reid was chosen to represent the LSU School of Music as the 2013-2014 Presser Undergraduate Scholar for academic and musical excellence. He has won a variety of prizes in competitions both at local and national levels. Reid made his solo debut abroad at many performance halls throughout Italy and Ireland in the summer of 2013. He enjoys both vocal and instrumental collaboration and has played extensively with singers and instrumentalists. His primary teachers are Jennifer Hayghe, Evelyne Brancart and Gregory Sioles.
Teaching piano is a pursuit Reid has held dear for many years—he has taught privately, through several music academies, and given masterclasses in both universities and precollege music academies in addition to his graduate teaching responsibilities at the Jacobs School. Reid enjoys the opportunity to come alongside his students as they explore and develop their skills in music-making. His primary pedagogical focuses are developing competence in the written and aural aspects of piano playing, developing a love for discovery in the learning process, and helping students find personal fulfillment and enjoyment in their musical pursuits.
Nadia Rodriguez
Nadia Rodriguez, a native of San Diego, California, started her musical studies in piano and violin at age 7.
Throughout her musical career, Rodriguez has competed, performed and collaborated with several musicians at different concerts and festivals including the Junior Bach Festivals, Mozart Festival, MTAC: Annual Convention Music Festival, the Starling DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies at the Juilliard School, Brevard Summer Music Festival and the Interharmony Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy.
As a music educator, Rodriguez’s teaching is illuminated by her avid performing experiences, flourishing pedagogical training and profound musical inspiration. Her goal is to implement music as a lifestyle by realizing effective practice habits while nurturing each student to develop their own strengths and interests, which results in empowering students’ entire persona as the foundation to the musician.
Rodriguez earned a Bachelor of Arts in piano performance and Spanish from San Diego State University where she studied under Tina Chong and Karen Follingstad. Rodriguez is pursuing a Master of Music in piano performance and pedagogy at our College of Music, studying under Andrew Cooperstock. After completing her master’s degree, Rodriguez plans to pursue a doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy, working toward a career as a performing artist, collaborative pianist and pedagogue.
Angelique Scully
Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Angelique Scully studied at the Sharon Music Academy under the direction of Tanya Schwartzman, 2002-2015. She graduated magna cum laude with a BM in piano performance from Ithaca College, having studied with Charis Dimaras. During her training, she also had the opportunity to work piano masters Alex Korsantia, Max Levinson, Konstantinos Papadakis, Victor Rosenbaum and—most recently—Kirill Girstein and Nikolai Luganksy.
Scully has earned numerous prestigious awards including winning the 2021 Mary Hayes North Competition for Ithaca College piano seniors. Other prizes include first place in the high school senior Steinway Society Piano Competition, with the incredible opportunity to be interviewed and recorded for WCRB Radio; as well as first prize in the New England Piano Teachers Association Competition, Young Promise International Music Competition, Kenneth A. Darrel Memorial Piano Competition, American Fine Arts Festival (performing at Carnegie Hall) and Massachusetts Music Teachers Association Bay State Competition, and third place in the 53rd World Piano Competition. Scully has equally enjoyed teaching piano at various levels and ages for many years and is pursuing a master’s in piano performance, studying with Jennifer Hayghe at our College of Music.
Ethan Stahl
Ethan Stahl is a DMA student at CU Boulder where he studies with Andrew Cooperstock. Originally from Missouri, he received a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance from Missouri State University. After graduating, he worked at MSU as a faculty pianist/vocal coach—a position that demanded diverse collaboration with top musicians from MSU and around the world.
Stahl has taught private piano lessons for a decade. He believes in keeping an open, encouraging and natural atmosphere guided by proper technique, intent and communication between teacher and student. Past President of Missouri State University’s MTNA student chapter, Stahl currently serves on the board of MMTA (Missouri Music Teachers Association). He has taught in masterclasses, seminars, lab settings and more.
Abigail Terrill
Abigail Terrill is a teacher, performer and creator of (mainly) piano music. Her early training was based on classical Russian piano methods, but now she likes to play, teach and dabble in all sorts of genres and sounds.
She began learning to play the piano at age 5. As a child of military parents, she was exposed to a wide range of teaching styles from moving to many different states. In 2009, she began a seven-year music study program at the Barthelmes Conservatory in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which provided many solo and chamber ensemble performance opportunities. Her private teacher, Tatyana Lantos, pushed her to compete in solo and ensemble state competitions, and her composition and ensemble teachers inspired her to complete a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Central Missouri, where she studied with Mia Hynes.
Throughout her time in a home studio, her job at Guitar Center and her work in the Warrensburg Community Music Program, she has collected over five years' experience teaching both avocational and pre-professional children and adults. As a performer, she makes it a point to program lesser known pieces, such as Dutilleux’s “Au gre des Ondes,” Maurice Emmanuel’s “Sonatine VI” and works by Cécile Chaminade. As a creator, she has enjoyed projects like composing for prepared piano and building a clavichord from a kit!