In 2014, I spent about six months trying to get back into serious practicing after a five-year lull. I needed more than just determination. I needed inspiration.
During this time, a colleague sent me an email about an open lesson with Jarred Dunn. (An open lesson is when there is an opportunity for an audience to watch someone’s piano lesson.) Jarred was introduced as a Chopin expert, so immediately I was intrigued. Jarred would be teaching a high-level student that had always impressed me. I needed to see this.
The lesson was two hours long, but the time flew by. I was completely taken away by Jarred’s understanding and love of the music, his incredible ear, and his ability to demonstrate such difficult pieces so easily. I guess you could say I was a little star-struck.
After the class, Jarred invited many of us to a teacher workshop he was holding the following month. I was a little nervous in accepting- the schedule and the cost of it were more than I had anticipated. But going to that workshop changed my life. I met some really great piano teachers in the area, and all of us were just amazed by Jarred. It had been a very long time since I felt so inspired!
So, of course, I inquired about private lessons. I had a couple of lessons with my new teacher that summer before Jarred took off for Europe.
I had my first Skype lesson with him that fall. I was pretty skeptical about online lessons, but it turned out to be great. I could continue to study with this amazing teacher who was halfway across the world, furthering his music studies — far beyond what I would ever be capable of doing. I’m even more thankful now that I decided to pursue online lessons with him. It prepared me for teaching during this COVID-19 pandemic since all lessons need to be taught online. I know a lot of music teachers have struggled with this change, but I’ve had plenty of time to adapt, thanks to Jarred.
I was Jarred’s studio assistant for two years and worked closely with him to organize his schedule, master classes and workshops. It was one of the busiest times in my adult life. Jarred lives and breathes classical music. He continually undertakes an incredible workload, and never shows any signs of slowing down. He reads more academic books in a summer than I have probably read in my lifetime and has a naturally eloquent manner about him. The music he’s capable of playing, and regularly performs, makes the difficult repertoire I am learning look easy. As a performer, Jarred has this fascinating ability to transport his audience to another world.
I’m sure most of you have heard the saying ‘when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.’ This is exactly what happened to me with Jarred. I still can’t believe how lucky I am that he was the teacher who appeared.
That open lesson in 2014, opened the door to the next chapter of my piano life. As you can see, Jarred Dunn is an important player in my musical journey. Over the next five blog posts, I would like you to get to know him a little better, so I’ll be sharing an interview I did with him a little while ago.
In the meantime, take a look at the video below of Jarred playing…..