“I’ve performed all across the country and the most fun I’ve had with music is teaching Music Together classes!  Being with small children, leading them to discover how instruments sound and feel in their hands, how powerful it is to chant, dance and sing within a group of joyful music makers is an experience it is my privilege to have every day. We have a lot of fun!

Teacher Hope grew up in the Bay Area  and has been performing her original Americana and Traditional American Roots music from California to Maine since 2008.  She’s lead vocalist with four albums with the Hopeful Romantics, and Savage Bond as well as  an award-winning songwriter Audience participation has always been a big part of her performance and she brings that joy of sing-alongs and a welcoming spirit to her Music Together® family classes. Hope is a registered Music Together teacher.

Alice loves to connect with families through music, movement and laughter. She started her journey with Music Together by taking classes with her own daughter, which inspired her to share the gift of music in community as a teacher. Alice feels lucky to have grown up in a musical family who encouraged her creative development at a young age, when she learned to play the piano and sang with a choir. She has dabbled in many dance forms including Cuban salsa, ballet, belly dancing, flamenco, and English and Scottish country dancing. She also performs regularly with an ensemble. Fans of Alice enjoy her positive energy, warmth and inclusiveness. Alice loves to create a fun environment for adults and kids alike to relax, move and sing!

Claire LOVES kids!  She has been a Music Together teacher since 2009 and has been working with children for over 17 years.  Claire graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2008 with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She did masters studies at California Institute of the Arts also in Vocal Performance from 2010-2012.
Claire loves teaching private voice lessons to all ages.  In her spare time, Claire enjoys performing with a samba group as a stilt-walker and percussionist.  Most of all she likes to have adventures with friends and family including her dog, Saffron.

Courtney is a mother of three and a Music Together mom. She has been teaching Music Together since 2018 and has seen first-hand the benefits of early music education! She looks forward to sharing her love of music, singing, and movement with children and their families.
Originally from New York City, Courtney grew up in a very musical family. Her mother is a pianist and composer, and her older sister is a professional opera singer. Courtney’s childhood was filled with music and dance. She started taking piano lessons at 6 years old and joined the Young People’s Chorus of New York City at 10 years old.

Courtney went on to pursue a career in classical ballet, and trained at the School of American Ballet in NYC. She later attended Indiana University where she graduated with top honors, receiving a B.S. degree in Dance, while still continuing her piano training all the way through her college years. Additionally, she has her Masters Degree in Dance Education from NYU.

In 2016, Courtney started her own non-profit organization, RammDance, a modern dance company that performs the works of modern-dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, as well as Courtney’s own original choreography, throughout the Bay Area.

From our families to Eowyn, and Eowyn's bio:

"N__ and I always enjoy your music class and we love your energy, enthusiasm and your beautiful voice." E.S.

"Eowyn – you are a FANTASTIC musical inspiration to all of us. Thank you for hosting and creating a comfortable, fun and friendly environment." J.M and E__, C-- and L__

"Thank you for a great couple of music together sessions! We now have instrument sessions at home too! Thank goodness for "bum-bum!" which gets both of my kids to start cleaning up right away." C.V.

Éowyn Mader came to Music Together® as a parent attending classes with both her children (now in high school and college), and became a registered teacher in fall 2005. Along with family classes, she has also taught Music Together In Schools at several local preschools. including UC Berkeley Child Development Centers. She comes from a family of musicians that includes an opera singer, a blues guitarist and a heavy metal guitarist and producer, and she grew up playing violin and singing in choirs. Éowyn spent many years as an actor performing with the California Shakespeare Theatre, the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Stage Company and Center REP, among many others.  She also plays guitar and ukulele, and loves now using her theater skills to sing and dance with young children and their families.

To Julia from our families, and Julia's bio:

""I want to thank you for the fun we had in class on Wednesday. My daughter asked me today if we were going to class after school, and was upset that we didn't have it again today! She sings all the time now, and my son does too. I think that the way you keep the kids involved and the pace of the class is great - you really put a lot of thought into it. I also love how respectful, loving and joyful you are with the children." S. C.

"Julia's teaching style is warm and engaging. Her knowledge of child development and music is apparent in her ability to both entertain and teach the children and adults. Both my girls are extremely enthusiastic about our time together making music." D. B.

""A__ was so excited when I re-registered,that he ran to his instrument basket, pulled out the accordion, and started dancing around the house." Y. K., returning for our fourth semester.

Julia has been teaching Music Together in the East Bay area since 2002. She is a registered Music Together teacher and has also been awarded Certification Level 1 and Level 2, for demonstrated achievement in musicianship, movement, parent education, and teaching the Music Together program.These awards were granted by the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, NJ, Kenneth Guilmartin, Founder/Director.
Julia also has Level 1 Certification in the Orff Schulwerk method of teaching music to young children.
 

Here are some family comments about Lisa, along with her bio:

"We have attended Lisa's class in Alameda for more than 6 sessions since my daughter was 14 months old. We keep taking Lisa's class! Lisa always greets us with a big smile which makes us feel welcomed. She is very enthusiastic, good with children, gives parents helpful musical development advise. We really enjoy her class!" ~Y.R.

"We love Lisa because she is very energetic, friendly, makes the music very lively for the babies and gives info or tips about the music in between the songs for parents!! We (me and 18mnth old girl) were "big musicians" in her classroom." ~ S.L.

"Our teacher was Lisa from the Alameda classes. She is wonderful, gentle, welcoming, engaging, all inclusive . She made a life long impression on our daughter, who took her classes from 9 months to 2 and a half and still sings the songs every day. Ella's love of music stems from Lisa's gifts as a teacher." ~M.A.

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Lisa Bush Finn grew up bi-coastally, in Cambridge, MA & Sacramento, CA. She received her B.A. from Bennington College in Vermont. During the ensuing 15 years, while living in New York City, she was a member of the Wendy Perron Dance Co. and also performed and toured nationally and internationally with several other choreographers and performance artists, including as a singer in a cabaret production and at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. She discovered Music Together in Brooklyn with her first child.

After moving to the Bay Area in 1996, Lisa attended two other early childhood music programs with her two kids, until 1998, when Music Together was first offered in the Bay Area by Julie Tanenbaum. She became a Registered Music Together teacher in 1999 and, in 2006, was awarded Certification Level 1.

Lisa still performs, appearing in the works of several Bay Area choreographers, including Carol Kueffer, Dana Lee Lawton, Randee Paufve, Jill Randall, and Alisa Rasera. She is a founding member of Nina Haft & Company, with whom she was on-tour in the Middle East in April 2010. She has also done choreography for Virago Theatre’s productions of Candide, The Threepenny Opera, The Death of Ayn Rand, and Mankind’s Last Hope, for Jasper Productions’ Anatomy, as well as for Alameda Children’s Musical Theater’s productions of Alice and High School Musical.

Lisa also teaches movement for actors at the Virago Theatre Conservatory, and is a dance and theater teaching artist in local schools through the Creative Education Institute.

Megan loves teaching Music Together.  After being a professional opera singer for 13 years, she was so happy to make music again in an informal, fun way.  She also considers it a great privilege to be a part of the lives of young children and their families.

"I was curious to see how my 2 year old son would respond to Music Together, which is the first structured activity he's been involved in. After the first class I wasn't sure of he liked it, but, after two classes when I realized he was likening things we did at home to things we had done in class ("...'ike 'Icky did in mugit cass!!"), I knew we were onto something. Riki has a wonderful way of inviting kids to participate without putting any pressure on them. She seems to have a really good sense of where each kid is and meeting them in their comfort zone, and gently drawing them out. At our first class she noticed my son's affection for his stuffed dog, Puppy, and added a verse for him in the farewell song--a small gesture that made a huge impression. She finds a way to include each person and celebrate what their doing--whether it's an infant leaning on a drum, a grown up trying to come up with a new dance move, or a toddler venturing to join in something they had been watching others do in previous weeks. She also struck a really nice balance between building ritual, doing some things the same way every week, and keeping it fresh. These things, combined with her relaxed and fun nature and her musical gifts made for a fabulous class. We certainly felt lucky to have Ricky as our son 'a first teacher." ~ Maggie H.

Stefanie earned her Master’s degree in education and early childhood development in Berlin, Germany. She loves engaging children through music and movement and found a calling when she “discovered” Music Together with her own children and enjoyed classes for 4.5 years!

From her early childhood, Stefanie was immersed in music by an extended family full of musicians. With Orff Schulwerk lessons at age 4 and choir at 6, she continued with instrument lessons (soprano and alto recorder, electronic organ, and guitar as an adult), performance choir and dance and shares 15+ years of experience working with young children.

Stefanie currently teaches German children’s music circles and assists in the German language school BAKS+. She has joined a women’s singing circle for her own fun and voice training.

Teaching Music Together combines her great passion for music and singing, young children, movement, and early childhood education!

From families:

We love Steffi as our music together teacher! She definitely stands out and very unique in her own wonderful way that we absolutely love. She is very good at dancing and combined with her wonderful voice and sweet interaction with the kids, our class is always fun. If we can choose the class that does not overlap with my daughter's preschool days, we would definitely choose her class every semester! Thanks Steffi for teaching my daughter how wonderful music can be! Olivia C.

"We loved our classes with Steffi! She is wonderful with the kids, combining musical talent and technical knowledge with lots of fun." -- L. S.

"just wanted to send a note about your wonderful teacher, Steffi -- she has been a hugely important part of our son's musical life for the last year and a half, and he will take that love of music with him wherever he goes. thank you, thank you!" --B. T.

"We have taken 3 classes with Steffi. Our daughter started at 15 months old and we wish we had known about the class sooner. - she’s awesome, she’s a great teacher,  great class. She has been a kind, gentle and positive influence in our daughter’s life."

"Our daughter loves Steffi. Our daughter has gotten so much out of the class. Steffi and her guitar have started what I would like to think is a life long love of music. Our daughter sings and dances on a daily basis."

"Steffi’s class is always joyful and upbeat. Her love of music and her musical ability enhances the class. Her guitar playing mesmerized our daughter every class."