Tabitha Czapla

Tabitha Czapla, NCTM – Piano

Tabitha Czapla was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. She has been classically trained in piano since the age of 9. During her beginner years, Tabitha studied piano and theory with pedagogue Mary Lou Edgecomb, and later transferred to her sister, concert pianist and music director, Annette Masterson, to study piano performance. In high school, Tabitha had the honor of studying under Dr. Gary Fisher at The Eastman School of Music and at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. During this time, she performed and competed extensively throughout Western NY, gave concerts at local churches and retirement homes, and was a special guest on Tri-State Christian Television’s live show “Celebrate,” where she performed an original composition.

When Tabitha began teaching at the young age of 15, she immediately fell in love with it as a career. After moving to Arizona to attend college, she continued giving piano lessons in students’ homes throughout the Phoenix metro area. During this time, she met Mike Kaminski, who was a keyboardist in a local Christian rock band. After 2 years of college-level training in classical piano performance, she took some time off from school to focus on teaching fulltime.

A year later, Tabitha and Mike founded East Valley School of Music and quickly grew the business from 20 students to 60 students in less than 2 years. During this time, they also became actively involved in the East Valley Music Teachers Association, participating and chairing various local events throughout the year. In the fall of 2008, Tabitha became a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) through the Music Teachers National Association.

During the past years, Tabitha has been privileged to study under the tutelage of Dr. Judy Lively, Dr. Andrea Fennig, Dr. Walter Cosand, Professor Ashley Bradford, and Professor Ruth Yandell. She recently finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance at Grand Canyon University under the instruction of Dr. Julie Harvey, and graduated in the spring of 2013.

Click here for Tabitha’s full resume.