Teaching Philosophy: “As a teacher, musician, and individual, I strive to be an embodiment of the three “E’s”: encouragement, empathy, and experience. Many of my beliefs as a teacher fall in line with these ideals, and they are something that I try to instill in my students as well. In my teaching, I aspire to be a bridge and model for my students who are on their way to become exceptional independent musicians. As a result of my instruction, my goal is that my students will gain an understanding and appreciation of their musicality and the gift they have been given.
As a piano teacher, I want my students to feel comfort and confidence in sharing their piano playing with others, whether it be friends, family, or more formal settings like recitals and auditions. Part of the process of creating confident, informed, and independent musicians requires that I impart them with the theory and technical skills needed to play music in different styles and languages. Additionally, it is my goal with each student to help them develop their ear training and sight-reading skills to the fullest extent. Overall, my aspiration for my students is for them to play piano with their truest self in a way that they can sustain consistently and with healthy technique.
In my teaching, I prioritize playing and practicing techniques that will allow them to play robustly for the rest of their lives. It is very important to me to reach the students I have wherever they are at, and to have patience as they grow. As someone who benefits from a neurodiverse learning personalization, I am fascinated with constantly finding new teaching techniques and ideas to reach students who may have different learning styles, specifically through student-centered educational strategies. With developing ears as budding musicians, I believe it is necessary to commit time to focusing on ear training exercises and simply listening to music so that I can help them discover the music they love. This translates into the repertoire that I assign students as well–I have a policy that I will never assign a student a piece that they do not like or enjoy, because I know from my own personal experience as a young music student that the more a student loves a piece, the more they will practice it and grow.
Seeing my students’ growth during our time working together is the ultimate reward as a teacher. Growth can come in many different forms, and I believe it is imperative to acknowledge it along the way toward musical prowess. My hope for my students is that they become not only confident in their musical abilities, but also confident in who they are as an individual. Music is something that is so personal for many of us. We can use music to bring light and fulfillment to our lives in so many ways, and I want to help cultivate that light within my students.”
Biography: Praised for her "vocal power", "youthful allure", and "clear, piercing, coloratura virtuosity," American soprano Kira Kaplan is an exciting young coloratura soprano who truly feels alive on the stage. She was most recently seen as the First Place Winner of the Artist Division in the 2022 Camille Coloratura Competition, and early in the year as a Regional Finalist and North Carolina District winner of the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. December 2022 will feature her debut as the Soloist in Handel's Messiah with the All Saints Episcopal Church of Brookline, Massachusetts. In Spring 2023, Kira will take the stage starring in the title role of Handel's Alcina with the Boston Opera Institute. In April 2022, Kira made her Symphony Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Brahms' German Requiem under the baton of conductor James Burton.
In fall 2022, Kira starred in Ned Rorem's Our Town to rave reviews, being hailed for her "captivating tone", and "peerless, gargantuan singing". Her 2021/2022 season featured exciting role debuts including Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, Diana in If I Were You (Heggie), and Harriet Beecher Stowe in the Boston premiere of Kamala Sankaram's The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace, all with the Boston Opera Institute. She was slated to debut with the Ohio Light Company in Summer 2020 as the Princess Fantasia in Offenbach’s rarely performed Le Voyage dans la lune, but performances were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID 19. Previous roles also include Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Le Feu/Le Rossignol (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), and Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas).
Active in the competition circuit, Kira was announced as a 2023 winner of the highly competitive Boston District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Council Auditions, and was a stipend winner and Finalist of the New England Region. In 2022 Kira was the First Place Winner of the Camille Coloratura Competition, a Regional Finalist and winner of the North Carolina District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and the William W. Watkins Encouragement Award winner of the Annapolis Opera Competition. Kira was the Third place winner in the 2021 Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, Honorable Mention in the 2020 MI Opera Competition. She has also been a Semifinalist in the 2022 Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition as well as the 2022 Jensen Foundation Competition.
Just as at home on the concert stage, Ms. Kaplan has enjoyed singing as the soprano soloist in several concert works. Most recently, she made her Boston Symphony Hall premiere as the soprano soloist in Brahms Deutsches Requiem under the baton of Tanglewood Festival Chorus conductor, James Barton. Spring 2022 featured another professional premiere for Ms. Kaplan, where she sang as the soprano soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the Rhode Island Civic Orchestra and Chorus with conductor Joshua Rhode. Her other concert work has included singing as soprano soloist in Haydn’s The Seasons (Eastman Philharmonia/Eastman Rochester Chorus), Honegger’s King David, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, and of course, Handel’s Messiah.
Eager to explore new works, Ms. Kaplan has had the joy of performing several. Most notably, in 2018, she had the honor of performing the role of Amy in Mark Adamo’s Little Women with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival as Young Artist, coaching the material directly with the composer himself while in residence. This past fall, she thoroughly enjoyed taking a further dive into modern opera with the role of Harriet Beecher Stowe in The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace by Kamala Sankaram as a Young Artist with the Boston Opera Institute.
Ms. Kaplan has also been a Young Artist with the Villa Negra Opera Festival, Mannes Opera, Capitol Opera Harrisburg, Bethesda Summer Music Festival, and the American Singers Opera Project. She has served on the voice faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Furman University and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Mannes School of Music.
Kira has been teaching since 2014 and joined Note-worthy Experiences in January 2023.
As a piano teacher, I want my students to feel comfort and confidence in sharing their piano playing with others, whether it be friends, family, or more formal settings like recitals and auditions. Part of the process of creating confident, informed, and independent musicians requires that I impart them with the theory and technical skills needed to play music in different styles and languages. Additionally, it is my goal with each student to help them develop their ear training and sight-reading skills to the fullest extent. Overall, my aspiration for my students is for them to play piano with their truest self in a way that they can sustain consistently and with healthy technique.
In my teaching, I prioritize playing and practicing techniques that will allow them to play robustly for the rest of their lives. It is very important to me to reach the students I have wherever they are at, and to have patience as they grow. As someone who benefits from a neurodiverse learning personalization, I am fascinated with constantly finding new teaching techniques and ideas to reach students who may have different learning styles, specifically through student-centered educational strategies. With developing ears as budding musicians, I believe it is necessary to commit time to focusing on ear training exercises and simply listening to music so that I can help them discover the music they love. This translates into the repertoire that I assign students as well–I have a policy that I will never assign a student a piece that they do not like or enjoy, because I know from my own personal experience as a young music student that the more a student loves a piece, the more they will practice it and grow.
Seeing my students’ growth during our time working together is the ultimate reward as a teacher. Growth can come in many different forms, and I believe it is imperative to acknowledge it along the way toward musical prowess. My hope for my students is that they become not only confident in their musical abilities, but also confident in who they are as an individual. Music is something that is so personal for many of us. We can use music to bring light and fulfillment to our lives in so many ways, and I want to help cultivate that light within my students.”
Biography: Praised for her "vocal power", "youthful allure", and "clear, piercing, coloratura virtuosity," American soprano Kira Kaplan is an exciting young coloratura soprano who truly feels alive on the stage. She was most recently seen as the First Place Winner of the Artist Division in the 2022 Camille Coloratura Competition, and early in the year as a Regional Finalist and North Carolina District winner of the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. December 2022 will feature her debut as the Soloist in Handel's Messiah with the All Saints Episcopal Church of Brookline, Massachusetts. In Spring 2023, Kira will take the stage starring in the title role of Handel's Alcina with the Boston Opera Institute. In April 2022, Kira made her Symphony Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Brahms' German Requiem under the baton of conductor James Burton.
In fall 2022, Kira starred in Ned Rorem's Our Town to rave reviews, being hailed for her "captivating tone", and "peerless, gargantuan singing". Her 2021/2022 season featured exciting role debuts including Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, Diana in If I Were You (Heggie), and Harriet Beecher Stowe in the Boston premiere of Kamala Sankaram's The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace, all with the Boston Opera Institute. She was slated to debut with the Ohio Light Company in Summer 2020 as the Princess Fantasia in Offenbach’s rarely performed Le Voyage dans la lune, but performances were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID 19. Previous roles also include Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Le Feu/Le Rossignol (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), and Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas).
Active in the competition circuit, Kira was announced as a 2023 winner of the highly competitive Boston District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Council Auditions, and was a stipend winner and Finalist of the New England Region. In 2022 Kira was the First Place Winner of the Camille Coloratura Competition, a Regional Finalist and winner of the North Carolina District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and the William W. Watkins Encouragement Award winner of the Annapolis Opera Competition. Kira was the Third place winner in the 2021 Friends of Eastman Opera Competition, Honorable Mention in the 2020 MI Opera Competition. She has also been a Semifinalist in the 2022 Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition as well as the 2022 Jensen Foundation Competition.
Just as at home on the concert stage, Ms. Kaplan has enjoyed singing as the soprano soloist in several concert works. Most recently, she made her Boston Symphony Hall premiere as the soprano soloist in Brahms Deutsches Requiem under the baton of Tanglewood Festival Chorus conductor, James Barton. Spring 2022 featured another professional premiere for Ms. Kaplan, where she sang as the soprano soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the Rhode Island Civic Orchestra and Chorus with conductor Joshua Rhode. Her other concert work has included singing as soprano soloist in Haydn’s The Seasons (Eastman Philharmonia/Eastman Rochester Chorus), Honegger’s King David, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, and of course, Handel’s Messiah.
Eager to explore new works, Ms. Kaplan has had the joy of performing several. Most notably, in 2018, she had the honor of performing the role of Amy in Mark Adamo’s Little Women with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival as Young Artist, coaching the material directly with the composer himself while in residence. This past fall, she thoroughly enjoyed taking a further dive into modern opera with the role of Harriet Beecher Stowe in The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace by Kamala Sankaram as a Young Artist with the Boston Opera Institute.
Ms. Kaplan has also been a Young Artist with the Villa Negra Opera Festival, Mannes Opera, Capitol Opera Harrisburg, Bethesda Summer Music Festival, and the American Singers Opera Project. She has served on the voice faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Furman University and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Mannes School of Music.
Kira has been teaching since 2014 and joined Note-worthy Experiences in January 2023.