Meet Michelle Mark
Michelle has spent the last twenty years teaching youth of all ages in both private and public schools. She holds both a Master of Education (2009) from Pace University and a Master of Dispute Resolution from UMass Boston (2005). Her teaching education includes the acceptance into the prestigious New York City Teaching Fellows program, where she worked as a high school Special Education teacher in Queens, NY. She was also the recipient of the award for Outstanding Achievement in Dispute Resolution for her work training and certifying Roxbury, MA high school students in peer mediation.
Michelle resigned from her teaching position when she relocated to Denver in 2016. Taking some time off to spend with her children, she also used this period to rekindle a love for playing piano. She quickly realized that teaching piano was the perfect marriage between her two passions and Michelle Mark Music was born. Michelle specializes in taking a creative approach to teaching and utilizes her many years of classroom experience to create meaningful and engaging lessons for her students.
Michelle currently studies with Brenna Berman, a certified Master Teacher of the Taubman Approach and Associate Faculty with the Golandsky Institute. In October of 2020, Michelle began an intensive retrain in the Taubman Approach, which is an in-depth analysis of what makes up virtuoso piano playing. She has begun integrating this approach into her lessons and some students will be given the opportunity to meet and work with Brenna. Michelle has also recently studied with Jean-Luc Therrien, a graduate of the Conservatoire de Musique de Trois-Rivières (Québec), the University Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria), the Glenn Gould School (Toronto) and the University of Toronto. Michelle Mark is currently a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).
In her youth, Michelle studied with Dorothy Guion from 1980 - 1993. Michelle was an active member and later President for the Junior Extension of the Tuesday Morning Music Club. She performed many classical piano solos and duets during this time, including performing for the Tuesday Morning Music Club in Springfield, MA. Michelle currently lives in Denver, CO with her husband, two children Avery & Eben and their dog, Charo.
Read more about Brenna Berman and the Taubman Approach here:
Beethoven SonatA
Pathétique: Two Excerpts
“Unicorn? Yes, that’s Michelle….the mystical creature you can describe but doesn’t really exist. Michelle has been everything we could wish for and more in terms of a professional piano teacher for our daughter. Where to start? It is extremely clear Michelle loves what she does. She actively engages in our daughter’s interest in various pieces she likes to play, carefully monitors her keystrokes, tempo, and technique providing her with clear and concise feedback in a way our young daughter’s mind can understand. Michelle prepares ahead of our daughter’s lessons with new material, tips, and adjusts her session as our daughter needs it. She seems to spend endlessly on instrumental and technical tools to get the most out of her Zoom sessions and then proactively follows up with my wife and I on our daughter’s progress. I don’t say this too often, but Michelle is an incredible value with the amount of services that she provides with each lesson. We are so thankful and lucky to have her and we are sure you will feel the same.”
Peter & Sue Alexopoulos - Parents, Older student
