PhD music theorist offering piano, theory, history, and ear training lessons to students of all skill levels. Tailored lessons to suit your personal and professional needs and interests.

I was lucky enough to have Kelsey as my TA for a university-level chromatic harmony course and she was very detailed, patient, understanding, and generous with her time! I would recommend her to anyone.

I can’t recommend Kelsey enough! When she served as my TA for a music theory course on chromatic harmony and voice leading, Kelsey displayed great talents in problem solving, approaching music theory problems from multiple angles, and adapting to meet me at the conceptual level I was at. When I met with her during office hours on a weekly basis, Kelsey handled my abundant questions with skill and patience. She solidified my understanding of applied chords and diatonic modulation, local chromaticism (modal mixture and altered subdominants), and sequences and chromatic modulation in larger structures, from binary, ternary, and rondo forms to movements that make use of the sonata principle. Her communication style was effective and clear, and I have nothing but praise for her. Because of Kelsey’s tutelage, which involved a healthy amount of collaboration and demonstration of how to conduct these types of music analysis, I now have a better understanding of chromatic voice leading principles, contrapuntal elaboration of phrase models through chromatic intensification, tonicization, and sequence, and listening to connect these elements at different structural levels. It’s not just Kelsey’s thorough knowledge and pedagogical skills that impress me, however. She is a joy to work with because of her amazingly positive attitude and eagerness for her students to succeed. Her can-do attitude and team building skills were also necessary and valued not just by myself, but by her other students as well who turned to her for additional help during class time and during office hours when they needed it. I am confident without reservation that Kelsey is an excellent educator. As a tirelessly creative and passionate individual, she will always leave you in a better place than where you started. She is awesome!

Kelsey was my TA for a theory class at UBC during the pandemic, when everything was on Zoom. I wasn't sure how things would go with online classes, but Kelsey was one of the BEST TA's ever, and the entire class liked her. What is so great about Kelsey, is that she makes learning fun, and she understands the subject material at a high level, so her explanations are very clear and easy to understand. She also has a happy, bubbly personality that makes learning fun and she strives to instill confidence in her students. I would highly recommend Kelsey as a tutor or TA to any music student.

Kelsey is a phenomenal teacher who caters to the individual needs of her students. She is insightful, approachable, and, above all, caring. Her passion for music and its fundamentals is evident through her enthusiasm and knowledge in class and her willingness to adapt her lessons to meet students wherever they are in their musical journey.