About Alexandra
Resume and Biography
Alexandra is a Russian-American pianist from San Diego. She began playing classical piano at the age of five. At the age of seven, she began piano lessons with Krzysztof Brzuza, a renowned pianist from Warsaw, Poland. Since she began playing piano, she has won various competitions starting from the age of seven, such as Bach competitions, Mozart competitions, and Sonata competitions. Alexandra received her first paid award at eleven years old at the Goodlin competition in San Diego. In 2018, Alexandra completed all of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) theory and repertoire exams, scoring “excellence” in repertoire, technique, and sight-reading. Alexandra has taken masterclasses from renowned pianists all over the world, such as Mamiko Suda, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sofya Gulyak, Nikolai Lugansky, and Piotr Paleczny. Currently, Alexandra is in the process of completing her Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at San Diego State University, under the guidance of Tina Chong. Below is a list of only some of the repertoire that Alexandra has learned and performed over the last year.
Rachmaninov Etude Op. 39 No. 1
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 4
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 12
Beethoven Sonata No. 17 "The Tempest"
Grieg Concerto in A minor
Liszt Venezia e Napoli
Saint Saens Concerto No. 2
Photo of Alexandra with Piotr Paleczny
"I am a piano performer, and one of my biggest goals is to inspire people to continue attending live concerts of classical music. I feel like a lot of people do not understand the importance of live classical music. Many performers make a living out of live performances, and access to music streaming apps like YouTube and Spotify may take a toll on our careers because of a lack of audience members.
I want to draw my listeners to the music I play by making them feel a rollercoaster of emotions, and making them want to always listen to live music."
Teaching Philosophy
As a piano teacher, my number one goal is to provide a solid foundation for piano technique and
music theory (reading notes, understanding rhythm, etc.). Once a student understands basic
rhythm and how to read notes, I allow the student to choose their own pieces to bring to
lessons. I find that most students feel more motivated to practice and to come to lessons when
they learn songs of their own interests. During the first year of lessons, my students and I spend
our lesson times playing pieces that help develop rhythmic skills, note reading skills, and
dynamical skills. I also introduce scales once my students understand how to support their
hands and hold correct hand postures while playing. I incorporate various learning styles to
cater to each student’s learning ability. Some students are more visual learners, and some are
more auditory learners. Regardless of what the student prefers, I aim to fulfill lessons with new
and engaging material to continuously develop music skills.
I view my job as an outlet for children to explore their interests. I believe that music lessons are
essential in developing creativity skills, along with creating an outlet for self expression. While I
understand that many of my students probably do not plan to become professional musicians in
the future, I ensure that all of my students are equally taught the fundamentals of music, and
receive fair treatment in all lessons (no favoritism in students). I expect my students to come
prepared to lessons with the material given from the previous lesson. I do not expect my
students to practice for hours every single day, or to become virtuosic pianists, but I do expect at
least some time commitment to the piano at least several times a week. Starting from the first
day of lessons, I tell parents that a student will have a very difficult time progressing in music if
they do not spend time practicing. With that being said, parents play a significant role in my
studio. After each lesson, I always inform parents of everything that was covered in the lesson,
and what needs to be done/needs more work. I ask the parent to help support their child’s
practice sessions at home throughout the week, and make sure that their child is practicing
several times a week. I try to help parents understand that music lessons can be fun while also
requiring time commitment and effort outside of lessons.