Group Classes

Emily's first love in anything "music" is the piano, and has been ever since the days of her toddler-toy instruments (she still has her RadioShack kiddie keyboard and occasionally uses it to improvise!). She received her first real piano, a beautiful Baldwin with a magnificent soundboard that seems to never go out of tune, at age 5, and promptly began lessons. She was enraptured with the simple, tactile experience of music-making that the piano provided, coupled with its vast landscape for creating endless sounds, textures, and dynamics (she likes to refer to the piano as "the orchestra at your fingertips").

Emily soon discovered the potential for story-telling through music: Constantly listening to film scores and replicating her favorite melodies on the piano by-ear, she knew in her youth that she wanted to be a part of the music industry that creates or captures those moments that move us. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Music from Liberty University, learning the art of film composition while continuing to develop her own "voice" on the piano. Now, she is passionate about coming alongside artists of all ages and skill levels to share the joy of becoming, in the words of her favorite piano teacher, "useful musicians" who want to make the world a better place through their unique creations and abilities.

Emily uses her home studio to collaborate and compose music for film and media projects. Her past participation in classical, jazz, theatre, Celtic, and "innovative" ensembles has made her an eclectic networker on the local music scene, and she shares all those influences with her students. When she is not teaching or playing for church and gigs, you can find her reading, drinking tea, hiking, getting around horses at every opportunity, playing the occasional video game, and developing her newfound love of escape rooms with friends.

Her last name rhymes with "keen", but she won't correct you if you pronounce it in the traditional German or any other colorful way!