Richard Kuhns |
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| Jazz Piano |
| Education |
| Rich Kuhns attended Foothill and DeAnza Colleges, where he studied musical performance, music theory, voice and Spanish. He performed with the Madrigal Choir and Foothill College Big Band and Jazz Sextet. His private piano studies were with Karyn Lee and Mark Levine. |
| Performing and Teaching Experience |
| For more than 15 years Rich has
been teaching beginning through advanced jazz keyboard performance,
composition, theory and arranging to private students. In 2001 he
was the California Arts Council Artist-in-Residence at Monta Vista
High School in Cupertino, where he coached jazz combos and taught
beginning improvisation and interpretation of pop music. Since 2002
he has been a periodic advisor to student jazz combos for the Stanford
University Jazz Department. He is also an advisor to the Big Band
rhythm section in the College of San Mateo Jazz Department.
Rich has wide-ranging performing experience, which includes a long-time gig as house keyboardist for Hornblower Dining Yachts in San Francisco and many recordings and TV/film scores. He currently performs with numerous jazz groups, including Soul Sauce, Trio Paradiso, Joe Craven and Friends, Claudia Villela/Ricardo Peixoto Group, and the Pit of Fashion Orchestra. |
| At CSMA |
| Rich joined the CSMA Music Faculty in February 2005. He teaches private lessons in jazz studies for piano and accordion, as well as jazz piano workshops and beginning to intermediate jazz theory classes. |
| Teaching Philosophy and Approach |
| "I've been a professional musician for more than twenty years. I use my own personal joy in studying and performing music to motivate my students. A study of jazz styles can lead in many directions. Once the area of interest is established with the student we can pursue the possibilities. I strive in my teaching to open creative channels using a variety of means. I am currently accepting only students with previous training in music reading, chord building and scales." |
| Personal |
| Website: |