About our school
Rosey Piano School is based upon the idea that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching. We value the differences in how students learn best and aim to present music through a lens that is most meaningful to each individual. Through technique, critical thinking, ear training, and solid notation reading, we encourage students to build a life-long and personal relationship with music (with some fun and games along the way).
Teachers
Brette Irish
Brette started playing piano at 5 when her grandpa gifted her his piano (which is still used in the studio). She is classically trained in both piano and voice with over 25 years of focused study (download her private study/research CV here). She received her bachelors degree in vocal performance from WOU and her masters degree in musicology from PSU. She has done extensive research in early childhood pedagogy and published a manual on notation that emphasizes the utilization of working and long-term memory and the importance of pattern recognition vs. memorization. Her masters thesis was a performance-lecture on Claude Debussy’s WWI piano works. She continues to study the Orff Schulwerk and Kodály pedagogies, and is pursuing a doctorate degree in music education. Her favorite lesson to teach is the circle of fifths.
Brette has also been actively involved in the Portland music scene since she was a teenager, playing shows at venues like Mississippi Studios and Doug Fir. Her songwriting has been covered by nationally recognized publications such as Stereogum, and has received local coverage in Willamette Week, The Portland Mercury, and OPB. She served as a record label intern at Tender Loving Empire and has been a curator and organizer of many community arts events. The interweaving of classical and pop will always fascinate her.
In her spare time she enjoys plants, reading, cooking, and hanging with her 5 year old, Winnie.
Mara Palmieri
Miss Mara knows the power of early music exposure first hand—she can remember listening to the violin on “Fiddler on the Roof” cassette tapes in her childhood car at age six and thinking “I want to do that!” Early lessons on violin led to a desire to explore as many instruments as she could. Through high school she studied the French horn, mellophone and trumpet; through private lessons and self study she gained skills in guitar, ukulele and piano. Her most valuable life experience came from marching the trumpet across the country with the Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps in 2014, where she learned the true value of dedication. Not only was she involved in music growing up, but she took part in many other art forms including theater, dance, and art.
Mara has been teaching private and group piano lessons as well as early childhood music classes for the past six years. She works with students aged three to adult. Prior to teaching music, Mara worked as a camp counselor and teacher’s assistant in a Montessori school. She is a big proponent of using active engagement, movement, and imagination to teach music. She makes sure to tailor classes to the individual pacing needs of each student.
Outside of teaching music, Mara loves to read, play with her fluff of a cat, and enjoy the sunshine.