teaching since 1991
'Piano and the Art of Pianism is an artistic and intellectual pursuit that brings joy to the soul.'
July 5, 2018 re: Thumbtack inquiries
I am willing to resume piano instruction;- however I only will accept students who request to learn PIANO. I've had several requests for non-piano lessons. Additionally, I prefer students from culturally rich communities with classical European art.
I do not need or want the liability that comes with parents who are highly unfamiliar with Philadelphia's piano traditions & New York's musical performance culture.
updated 1/27/2016
Currently (1/2016) residing on Oahu in Hawaii, Angela M. Kneale is a classical- jazz crossover who was born a dual citizen of Japan & US national origins. Her own piano improvisations and compositions are on the fringe of contemporary period music melded with the influence of Jazz sounds. Angela M. Kneale has 22 years of private piano study, in addition to her college degree, attending masterclasses, competing internationally, studied with Instructors & Performers of the , France, Hungary, Van Cliburn, Bartok Kabalevsky-Prokofiev and all over the USA as well as judges for International competitions for interpretation and performance pedagogy. Though she was not "pure race" to "win" at many competitions she consistantly was accepted as a finalist through blind, live auditions.
Miss Kneale also performed for over 30years & taught piano near her hometown from age 6;- Deleware Valley, Lehigh Valley, in PA ,Northern NJ, & as well as Ithaca, NY & Ontario, Canada.
- Her students performed at the State Showcase Recitals for the MTNA, PMTA, LVMTA, NYSMTA.
-Taught 5 (2000-2005) years of charitable Piano & Keyboard faculty positions at: Community Conservatory of Music- Doylestown, PA; Doylestown School of Music & Arts; Ithaca- Community School of Music.
- 2002 young Doylestown, PA talent organized their own stage events & selected her to judge performances in spoken word, dance, & range of popular music performances.
- Her students successfully performed in live broadcast performances, fundraising, and at family & Broadway gatherings.
From Bucks County, Pennsylvania;- Miss Angela Meredith Kneale began to study the piano at the direction of her great-grandmother, Eva Kelly-Kneale:- a Philadelphia voice instructor and entertainer @1920 - 1940. Because many people ask, Angela is a first generation American of Japanese-American descent. Miss Kneale is a cosmopolitan mix of Ainu, Japanese, Chinese, Yakutz-Turk, Russian, Polish, Irish and Manx. Though the societal demands of the USA are imposed on Angela, she received no major external funding from her Japanese relatives;- so expected by many. Due to the events of 9-11 and the Patriot act revision, Miss Angela's life was further financially crippled by the USA's harsh human rights violations & actions against her and her siblings due to their mishandled dual-citizenship by Local & Federal US authorities.
Teaching the art of Pianism at age 15 to afford her lessons with Dr. Andor Kiszely (an award winning and world renound teacher from the Liszt Academy). She became an award winning young artist and competed & performed regularly local, state and international levels until age 16. (Though, she attended and participated in contemporary period piano festivals and performed for monthly faculty concerts.) She also performed at private gallery gatherings in Downtown Manhattan, on & off Broadway, & at Estates, as well as for teacher meetings such as with Gary Graffman. She completed her Bachelor's degree on scholarship at Ithaca College School of Music in Ithaca, NY.
Angela enjoys teaching fine-tuning of pianistic skills to bring out the true beauty of the music. She teaches pianistic artistry & musicality.
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"My purpose as a piano teacher is to make my students know the whole big box of tone crayons they are to play with at the keyboard. Not to limit them as in most method books. to a singular shade (such as C major), in a small range of the entire pitch range.You cannot copy Bach,Beethoven, Burgmuller, Bartok, Mozart, or anyone if you don't have the mind to mix the tonal colors in the right way.
It would be like trying to learn from Van Gogh holding white paint only on one's palate and ignoring everything else that exists in the visual world." Angela M. Kneale
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DAILY TRUFFLES
by Angela M. Kneale
When I assign and/or write a technical exercise it serves a purpose. I shouldn't have to check your notes! A technical exercise is miniscule and the purpose must meet a goal at the end of the practice. It quickly should become a mindless physical task that is repeatedly revised by your ear to a splendid perfection that resembles an auditory truffle.
This technical practice should become a daily truffle for your ears.
And, depending on the purpose of the technical exercise, one day's truffle may be larger than another's to consume.
When there is even a hint of this type of musical truffle added to a practice session, everything becomes affected that day. Collectively, over years, the truffle effect grows.
----Celebrated 20 years of teaching the Piano 1991/92- 2011/12
Miss Angela shares her talent and insight with her students who have performed on TV, won awards in NY & PA, and who perform at professional music events. Angela Kneale is a classical-jazz crossover of Japanese-American descent. Her name in Japanese is translated to Angela =Tenshi (said ten-she) Kneale =Katsu (said kaht-su.). Pianistically, her phenomenal virtuosic fluency and diverse technical background developed on naturally and was influenced by more than 22 years of continuous private artistic & pedagogic studies with world class instructors. Her teaching/pedagogy was in development by the time she was 13. As a recruited student, at age 15, of the Main Line Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia, PA and under direction from the Original Kodaly family of thought, Angela Kneale developed her own "Way" to assist today's aspiring young musicians across all genres at a big city & real world pace. She also holds a degree in music from Ithaca College School of Music. Please visit Angela's blog at https://pianonoir.wordpress.com/
- Prefers to teach students aged 10-21 who want to learn piano;
- Experienced teaching students aged 2-80 years & children with autism
- Teaches Pianistic basics that are necessary unless one has extreme autism which include: Theory, eartraining, sightsinging, sightreading, memorization, performance presentation; techniques, interpretation, Composition.
Quality Sound
by Angela Kneale
No matter what the students are playing and no matter how short or how long the piece;- I just want my students to make a good sound. I believe that my students realize that producing a "Good" sound takes more time and patience to learn than learning the notes on the page. Anyone can play. Not everyone has a good ear to become a precision sound engineer, or the time to develop the coordination and understanding to articulate their emotion. This type of sound production flows from your imagination of the sound; to the production of that sound; (flowing from brain to finger ; onto the keyboard ; and to the listener's ear). This practice is for developing accuracy of sound production and reproduction through fine motor skills. This practice is what makes pieces sparkle through the air.