Nicky grew up in a musical family and during her childhood learnt to play piano, guitar, banjo, clarinet, and flute and studied music theory at the Leatherhead School of Music. She has been a local church musician for decades, has run a children’s choir and been a Gospel Choir Director. In this role, she was invited by one of the judges to take part in the BBC Gospel Choir of the Year competition. Nicky has taught piano and music theory at Hillsound for many years and weaves music theory knowledge into all her lessons. This is especially helpful for pupils who are taking Music GCSE. Piano lessons can be used as the ‘skill’ section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and many of Nicky’s secondary school pupils choose to do this, so she is an experienced assessor. A good number of her pupils at Hillsound have come for lessons for many years and therefore can play at a high level. One is now studying at the Guildhall School of Music. She has also taught choristers from Hampton Court Palace both piano and music theory. All ABRSM piano and theory exams carry credits for Uni and Nicky has taught some her students from junior school right through to starting at Uni. Nicky has entered pupils in the Richmond Music and Drama Festival, who played in the competition against their peers across the borough. Nicky is passionate about music education, and has written a music curriculum for use in schools in Uganda where music is not taught as a subject.

Kitty studied the piano and violin to post grade 8 and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Music with Honours at City University, London and Advanced Performance at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Kitty brings a wealth of experience in piano teaching, performance and music publishing, having taught piano since 2003, she enjoys sharing her love, passion and creativity for music to the local community. She currently teaches at local schools, music studios and privately, her lessons are always tailored to her students and their specific goals, this can be working towards graded examinations, public performances, exploring different genres of music for enjoyment and many more. Kitty has experience working with different examination boards including ABRSM, Trinity and RSL and teaching students with SEN.

“Claire has been teaching clarinet and piano for 20 years and is qualified to diploma level. She has taught across 6 London schools and has experience teaching all ages and levels. In her spare time, she enjoys arranging music for Sheet Music Plus and composing jazz duets for her website Clarisheets.com. Claire loves her work and employs an empathetic and encouraging approach to learning.”