Youth piano instructors
The CU Boulder College of Music’s Youth Piano Program is taught by accomplished student members of the Roser Piano + Keyboard Program. Meet our instructors:
Kyle Dacon is a first-year doctoral student at CU Boulder from Garland, Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Dacon will be studying with Jennifer Hayghe. In his free time, he loves to watch and play a variety of sports with friends. He believes athletes and musicians share lots of similarities and enjoys both the mental and physical challenges of playing piano. Dacon’s main career goal is to teach piano to students of all ages and backgrounds while maintaining his own performances and recitals.
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 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.
John-Austin King is a classical pianist, teacher and composer from Clover, South Carolina. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical piano performance from the UC-College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. King’s performances have taken him across the globe to venues in Germany, the Czech Republic, Iceland and various regions of the United States. Currently, he’s pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in classical piano at the University of Colorado Boulder. Most recently, King taught and coached young classical musicians in performance at the Við Djúpið music festival in Ísafjörður, Iceland. Patience and determination are at the forefront of King’s teaching and practice philosophy; he firmly believes that every musician is endowed with an extraordinary potential waiting to be unlocked.
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.
Ohad Nativ is a classical pianist and musicologist with versatile experience as a performer, teacher, conductor and scholar. Nativ was born in Israel, grew up in New Jersey and spent significant time in Europe. He is currently pursuing a Musicology PhD at CU Boulder, following master’s and bachelor’s degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University and Oberlin Conservatory, respectively. Nativ has performed in a large variety of international festivals, ensembles, concert series and competitions, as well as taken lessons and master classes with significant world-class pianists including James Giles, Peter Takacs, Spencer Myer, Alexander Kobrin, Ilana Vered, Matti Raekallio, Jason Hardink and others. As a musicologist, Nativ’s interests and experience range from analytical and critical theory to history, particularly focusing on early 20th-century post-Romantic structuralists. Experienced in teaching in a variety of settings, levels and age groups, Nativ believes education in piano should include good technical and musical training, shaping students into well-rounded artists.
Born in Genova in 1999, Italian pianist Luca Pompilio pursued his undergraduate studies in Pavia (Italy) where he completed a BM in piano cum laude in 2019 and a BS in physics (University of Pavia) in 2021. After earning a three-year diploma in chamber music (flute and piano duo) in Florence (Italy) in 2023, he completed an MM in piano performance at SHSU in Texas where he was also a teaching assistant, accompanist/coach and scholarship recipient. His main piano teachers include Diego Caetano, Roberto Paruzzo, Pier Narciso Masi, Cinzia Piccini, Barbara Cristina and Anna Zucchi. Pompilio has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist in Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States—from Alaska to Texas—and he has won prizes in international competitions in Europe and America. In summer 2024, he was a young artist for the Art of the Piano festival at San Francisco Conservatory, and returned to study at Sion Académie and festival in Switzerland. Pompilio has taught piano privately and for a school in Pavia, his hometown, and later in U.S. university as a teaching assistant. He has also been a sailing coach for kids and adults, loves photography and food, and is fluent in Italian (mother tongue), French and English.
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, 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.
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 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!
A native of Thailand, Chirapa Wungkaom is establishing an exciting career as a classical performer and educator with the teaching philosophy “music can shine through the curiosity and creativity of the individual.” As an active performer, Wungkaom was awarded the Silver Medal prize from the SET Youth Musicians Competition and the second prize winner of the Conrad Art Song Competition. As an educator, she was awarded Outstanding Teacher from both the Chicago International Music Competition and WPTA International Piano Competition in 2021. Among several master classes in Europe and the United States, Wungkaom has worked with Jacque Rouvier, Rolf Plagge, Rolf-Dieter Arens, Paul Barnes and Matthew Bengtson. In 2023, she appeared at Interlochen Art Academy as a teaching assistant in the piano department. A graduate of Bowling Green State University where she studied with Robert Satterlee, Wungkaom was enthusiastic to work with many talented young composers having performed new works while collaborating with chamber groups. She is currently pursuing a Doctoral of Musical Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder under the guidance of Andrew Cooperstock.
Gregory Worthley is a doctoral student in piano performance at the University of Colorado Boulder. From 2022-2024, he was on the faculty at the New School for Music Study in Kingston, New Jersey, where he taught private and group lessons. Worthley is also the website coordinator for the Frances Clark Center, an organization devoted to piano teaching. He completed the Postgraduate Fellowship Program at the New School for Music study, and earned his MM in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma and his BM in piano performance from Evangel University. Outside of piano, Worthley enjoys hiking, cooking and spending time with his wife, Amica.