Brendan Nguyen’s Piano Studio

Have you ever seen the movie «Take the Lead»? It’s one of those cliched, cheesy inspirational movies you watch when you’re home alone and depressed and eating ice cream, etc. It’s really not a very good movie, but one particular scene has always struck a chord with me. It’s a scene in which Antonio Banderas convinces a group of parents on the PTA to turn detention into ballroom dance lessons at an impoverished New York City high school: «Yes, we teach your kids dance, and with it a set of rules about respect, team work, and dignity. If your son can learn to touch a girl with respect, how do you think he will treat women throughout his life?»
It’s this type of abstraction that encapsulates the three major facets of music that Brendan has ingrained in me: professionalism, integrity, and discipline. Not only was he intently concerned with how good I sounded, he invested just as much time into my personal/​professional development. Likewise, my two years studying under him showed me that the way you approach the piano closely resembles the way you approach life (something I found particularly perturbing as I was probably one of the worst students any teacher could ever want). But unlike all of my previous teachers, Brendan took the time to specifically tailor his teaching style to my personality. He’s the first teacher who helped me truly understand the piano on a deeper introspective level. I firmly believe that the 3 years I spent getting that undergraduate degree in music would be completely and utterly useless if I didn’t have the pleasure of studying under him. Brendan is the most effective piano teacher you will ever find; no one else parallels.