Vita Piano exists to make high-level piano instruction available to as many people as possible. A lot of piano teaching feels opaque, or a little elitist, as though real understanding belongs to people who started at five. It doesn’t. Most of it can be explained clearly, and most of it can be learned by any adult willing to put in the time and attention.
Who the lessons are for
Many of the people we teach have played before: a few years of childhood lessons, some time self-taught, a stretch of on-and-off teachers. Others are starting from nothing. Either way, they’re adults with real goals, and the lessons are written for that. They don’t talk down, and they don’t assume a conservatory background.
How the lessons work
Each lesson starts with what’s actually happening at the keyboard. We find where the difficulty comes from, what the hand tends to do, and why a pattern sounds the way it does. We try to take the most practical and simple approach possible so you get the most value from your practice time. Most learning happens alone at the piano, between lessons, so the aim is to understand the material well enough to practice it on your own.
Loren Fishman
Loren Fishman is a renowned American pianist and teacher and the founder of Vita Piano. He began studying piano at age nine in Columbus, Ohio. He earned his bachelor’s degree with honors at Northern Kentucky University, where he studied with Sergei Polusmiak. He then earned his Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the University of Minnesota with Lydia Artymiw.
As a performer, Loren made his concerto debut playing Beethoven’s C minor Concerto with the Minnesota Sinfonia. He has since appeared as a soloist with the with orchestras, in solo recitals, and at summer festivals across the country and internationally.
He has taught at the collegiate level for over 20 years, at the University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State University, and currently teaches piano at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is also a prolific cartoonist, and draws Humoresque, a musical cartoon panel that runs in Clavier Companion and Piano Professional. Vita Piano brings what he has learned from teaching adults in person to students anywhere.
Read his full biography and teaching philosophy at lorenfishman.com.