Teaching Philosophy: “My music classes will strive to be centered around love, oneness, and musical enjoyment. For so many students, events in their school, home, and social lives can leave them feeling alienated from those around them, especially in their adolescent years. It is my hope that I will act as a facilitator for my students’ musical and emotional fulfillment. A top priority of my philosophy revolves around creating a safe space where students can be their true selves. Too often, students feel that some part of themselves is unaccepted by their peers, families, or other adults in their lives. I want my lessons to be a place where a student can walk in and feel like every aspect of themselves is loved and accepted. It is by becoming their like-minded ‘second family’ that music teachers help students unlock the ability to make the most beautiful, artistically sensitive, and meaningful music. Additionally, this ‘second family’ encourages students to learn cooperatively, express themselves, and better understand their peers.
The field of classical music, though beautiful and expansive, is a eurocentric field that excludes the music of many people and languages from its standard canon. This exclusion trickles down from popular performers and conductors to teachers, and very quickly, to students, and results in repertoire limited to the same countries of origin: Italy, Germany, France, England, and the United States. If this cycle is not broken from the very beginning of a student’s experience learning music, then it will continue, and musicians will continue to see their languages and cultures forgotten by the field of music as a whole. That is why, as an educator I will foster appreciation for music from all cultures and knowledge of diverse classical repertoires. It’s absolutely vital that my students see themselves, as well as see the world, in the music we perform.
My last, and likely biggest, priority is perhaps the most difficult to express in words. Music has the potential to create a beautiful, cathartic experience for all who perform it and perceive it. We know this by the pure joy visible on the faces of dozens of church singers performing the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus from the Messiah, a non-musician crying in awe when they hear the climax of ‘Nessun Dorma’, or the sense of unity felt by the people of Italy, who sang from their balconies in solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Musicians have the privilege of cultivating and experiencing these feelings every day, which is why my top priority is giving my students this experience of euphoric oneness that comes from engaging with music. As both a performer and an educator who lives to cultivate this emotion in the hearts of myself and others, I want my students to receive this gift and let it change their lives for the better."
Biography: Sydney Pérez is thrilled to teach with Note-Worthy Experiences Music Studio. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Vocal Studies (Opera) at the Longy School of Music, and she is a Teaching Artist with the Boston City Singers and at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Sydney earned a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education from the University of Texas Butler School of Music, studying with Dr. Cynthia Morrow. She has taught private voice lessons for four years, and she studied piano, guitar, and ukulele throughout her undergraduate career to further support her students. Sydney has also worked as an Elementary Music Teacher, where she taught instrument fundamentals to over 500 students.
An avid performer, Sydney has performed the roles of Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Æneas, Aline in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, and Maria Bertram in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park. She has additionally studied the roles of Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld at the Utah Vocal Arts Academy, Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with faculty of the University of Texas Butler Opera Center. Her greatest happiness comes from expanding accessibility and diversity in music education and performance.
Sydney has been teaching since 2019 and has been with Note-worthy Experiences since November 2022.
The field of classical music, though beautiful and expansive, is a eurocentric field that excludes the music of many people and languages from its standard canon. This exclusion trickles down from popular performers and conductors to teachers, and very quickly, to students, and results in repertoire limited to the same countries of origin: Italy, Germany, France, England, and the United States. If this cycle is not broken from the very beginning of a student’s experience learning music, then it will continue, and musicians will continue to see their languages and cultures forgotten by the field of music as a whole. That is why, as an educator I will foster appreciation for music from all cultures and knowledge of diverse classical repertoires. It’s absolutely vital that my students see themselves, as well as see the world, in the music we perform.
My last, and likely biggest, priority is perhaps the most difficult to express in words. Music has the potential to create a beautiful, cathartic experience for all who perform it and perceive it. We know this by the pure joy visible on the faces of dozens of church singers performing the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus from the Messiah, a non-musician crying in awe when they hear the climax of ‘Nessun Dorma’, or the sense of unity felt by the people of Italy, who sang from their balconies in solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Musicians have the privilege of cultivating and experiencing these feelings every day, which is why my top priority is giving my students this experience of euphoric oneness that comes from engaging with music. As both a performer and an educator who lives to cultivate this emotion in the hearts of myself and others, I want my students to receive this gift and let it change their lives for the better."
Biography: Sydney Pérez is thrilled to teach with Note-Worthy Experiences Music Studio. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Vocal Studies (Opera) at the Longy School of Music, and she is a Teaching Artist with the Boston City Singers and at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Sydney earned a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education from the University of Texas Butler School of Music, studying with Dr. Cynthia Morrow. She has taught private voice lessons for four years, and she studied piano, guitar, and ukulele throughout her undergraduate career to further support her students. Sydney has also worked as an Elementary Music Teacher, where she taught instrument fundamentals to over 500 students.
An avid performer, Sydney has performed the roles of Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Æneas, Aline in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, and Maria Bertram in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park. She has additionally studied the roles of Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld at the Utah Vocal Arts Academy, Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with faculty of the University of Texas Butler Opera Center. Her greatest happiness comes from expanding accessibility and diversity in music education and performance.
Sydney has been teaching since 2019 and has been with Note-worthy Experiences since November 2022.