Everyone give a warm hello and welcome to our latest piano instructor, Zoey Jones! With so many students chomping at the bit to learn and play piano, we’re so pleased to add Zoey to our team and allow her to share her amazing talents and knowledge with all of you.
Zoey’s love for playing the piano developed at an early age. She found her musical passion while actually attempting to solo over her dad playing blues music. While childhood piano lessons were the beginning of a prosperous path of future professional performances, Zoey’s epiphany moment of wanting to make a career out of music dates back to a particular musical she attended in her early teens. “I watched the ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ musical at the Old Globe in middle school. My seat was right by the orchestral pit and the whole time I was in awe of the skillful musicians before me.”
While her roots come from blues and musicals, Zoey eventually became attracted to certain 18th century composers like Debussy and Chopin, further strengthening her passion of the piano. With a diverse set of influences, her career as a performer blossomed. Zoey performed nearly any style. You want jazz? She’s got it! Dance? Oh, absolutely! Ok, how about pop, rock, classical, Latin, and even choral? Most definitely! If you’ve attended performances by the SDSU choir, Monroe Clark Middle School music program, or Summit UU Fellowship church choir, you may have even heard Zoey play.
With much experience as a performer under her belt, the act of teaching was inevitable. “Initially, the idea of teaching scared me. Would I connect with the students? Could I teach them as successfully as my teachers taught me?” In 2016, Zoey began teaching her first few students and fell in love with it all. After studying vigorously, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education at San Diego State University with Magna Cum Laude status in 2020. Such experience and accomplishments has allowed Zoey to become the excellent piano instructor that she is today. “My teaching style is very theory driven. I don’t want my students to just play the notes and not understand why they work. My students are able to analyze and know the ins and outs of whatever piece they play.”
Besides playing and teaching the piano, Zoey also is passionate about rock climbing, anime, travel, culinary arts, and her cat named Oscar. Again, we’re so pleased to have Zoey join us at Villa Musica and you can sign up for private lessons by clicking here.