Background
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Piano Studies and Performance
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I began my piano studies at the age of 3 with my mother, Lea Neiman, a former international competitor and concert pianist. My music studies continued with Julian White, Adolph Baller, Wanda Krasoff, and Hans Boepple, with in depth exploration of works by such composers as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Franck, Liszt, Brahms, Schumann, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and many others.
All of my teachers were considered master performers and instructors, and each passed on something special to me. The studies with these masters, spanning most of those formative years until age 31, provided me with rare and treasured knowledge on which I rely to this very day as a teaching and performing professional. That knowledge could never be captured in writing, but in summary those teachers also became close friends who shared their humanity, artistry, technique, and brilliance. For example, Julian White was widely recognized and deeply appreciated as an artistic genius. Julian had studied with Egon Petri, who was a friend of Johannes Brahms and passed on valuable insights that he learned directly from the composer himself! My teaching lineage can also be traced back to Franz Liszt and Ludwig van Beethoven.
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I have had the privilege of presenting numerous stage appearances over the past 50 years, including piano recitals, chamber recitals (founding member of Carmel Chamber Players), and concerto solo appearances. I particularly enjoy performing chamber music, as there is something very special when teaming up with other musicians to collaborate on a performance, as in this performance of Rachmaninov's Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 19 on the Aptos Keyboard Series: (performance).
Finally, I try to share my love for music through service. I currently serve on the Boards of the Carmel Music Society and the Monterey Branch of the Music Teacher's Association of California.
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Unique Personal History
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Unlike many modern music professionals, I chose not to pursue degrees in music or piano performance. At an early age I discovered a love for mathematics and eventually earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science, which served a long and successful career in the software industry. The piano playing continued throughout my life, though, and I even won a very special prize...
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In 1993 I entered a competition open only to piano teachers throughout Northern California, and won first prize, which included a performance of Rachmaninoff's Sonata in B-flat Minor at the Music Teachers Association of California convention in Santa Clara. It was there that another teacher heard me play and transferred 10 of her students to my studio as she could no longer teach them. Two of those students were the daughters of the woman I would eventually marry, and I adopted and raised her daughters as my own. This is why I often say that I won the greatest prize in history: a family.
