Our studio cultivates a sense of belonging for every child. Each child experiences unconditional acceptance, is supported by teacher, parent and peers, and learns at at their own pace with confidence and with joy.
The Vision
Teacher, Parent and Child work together to create a legacy of love within the family, and the children are nurtured to have caring, attentive, and open hearts.
At any age, when our students walk by a piano, they feel comfortable sitting down and playing, whether by ear, by improvising or by reading alone or with others.
Students become not only proficient, but play with a beautiful tone, with sensitivity to nuance, are open to guidance, and, above all, have a caring and generous heart.
Kate Saphir Alm
I have a lifetime of immersion in music: in my childhood home, at music school, and as a professional musician my entire adult life. After teaching for 13 years based on my childhood lessons, I perceived that teaching, like artistry at the piano, must be an intentional, informed, creative process. My subsequent 17 summers of training in implementing the Suzuki philosophy gives me the ability to pass on the gift and joy of making music to my students and their families.
I hold a Colleague Certificate from the American Guild of Organists and played the pipe organ for Calvary Episcopal Church in Santa Cruz for many years (over a dozen); I’m also a published composer through Church Publishing.
My lifetime of practicing and performing in different modalities of music ultimately lead to forming the vibrant and expansive Nonprofit, Musical Soulmates, where I am currently Co Artistic Director, a performer and music director with the Musical Soulmates Performers Collaborative, and a musical mentor to youth as Director of the Musical Soulmates Harmony Youth Choir.
My students play beautifully, by ear, by reading, and in ensembles. Most importantly, I am gratified to observe that their overall experience is joyful. In Fall of 2025 we welcomed my Pedagogy Mentor, master teacher Caroline Fraser, for a 1 week Residency. In 2024 we welcomed an Artist in Residence for our very first time: Victoria Theodore came to work. We look forward to checking back in with her and working with other Teachers -in -Residence in the years to come. My teaching, like my performing and directing, is an essential creative process: hour after hour in the studio, day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year,
My students play beautifully, by ear…