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Accomplished musician and music educator Alicia Gaggioni recently provided insight and reflection into her musical career and her business, Crescendo With Music.
Q: What inspired you to craft a career in music?
A: My vocation and inspiration to begin a life in music comes largely from my own family. I am the fourth generation pianist in my family, all from my mother's side. I grew up surrounded by music. In my house we always listened to my mother's piano, my sister's violin, my brother's trumpet or drums or my father’s harmonica as we practiced our own pieces.
Q: You're an accomplished pianist and music educator with more than a quarter century of experience. What do you love about performing and teaching others?
A: I love that when you perform in front of an audience you connect with the audience, and take your audience on a journey. I love sharing music with others. There are so many aspects of performing that are very rewarding. Performing in a concert hall, performing for yourself, as well as accompanying choirs, church congregations, playing in rock or pop groups, playing duets with friends and playing with other instrumentalists and singers. Performance is something I teach my students as it builds great confidence and self-esteem.
I love teaching because I love witnessing children grow. I hope to inspire children to love learning, and perhaps more importantly to believe that they can learn and do anything. Music education offers children the chance to be creative. I love creating new fun ways for kids to grasp and practice.
I love planning ahead and preparing for lessons, classes, recitals, community service projects, practice incentives, camps and anything else that is simmering in my imagination! Anything that allows my students to grow. Learning music helps develop self-esteem, developing personalities, memory, sightreading. I can't imagine my life without students!
Q: What is Crescendo With Music and its purpose?
A: I have spent decades developing a broad knowledge base at the intersection of music, art, education and neurology to develop the system upon which Crescendo with Music stands today.
Crescendo with Music stimulates physical, mental and emotional growth in children through music and the arts beginning at a very young age. The curriculum is appropriate for each age group and includes singing, listening, ear training, playing instruments, musical notation, composition, improvisation, music appreciation, rhythm band ensembles, group piano and music history, storytelling.
Crescendo with Music has prepared students for international orchestra debuts, and has organized and directed operas, plays and other productions with hundreds of students and spectators. Some of the theatrical productions I have produced include classical and modern works such as Hansel & Gretel, The Magic Flute, The Persian Market, Annie and The Lion King. Students of Crescendo With Music have performed in many national and international concert halls. I have been a music teacher and advisor to many children who have gone on to pursue music and other careers in prestigious institutions such as: The Juilliard School, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University and Georgia Tech.
Q: When you're not making or teaching music, what do you like to do in your spare time?
A: In my free time, I love creating and designing materials and games to accompany and reinforce knowledge in class for my young students.
I love to walk with my husband every single day, challenging ourselves. I am an opera lover and enjoy going to concerts very much. I love to play tennis and every night I practice my English (and other languages too!). I also love my grandchildren very much, and spending a lot of time with two that live very close to us!
Q: Why is it important for people to embrace music even if they don't intend to make it?
A: Music is incredible for us. Through music, we enjoy intellectual, emotional, physical, social, mental and personal benefits. Each of these benefits will affect us in a positive and multifaceted way.
In piano lessons, students enhance the working memory. This is especially true after as little as six months of learning. Music improves our brain speed. By playing the piano, you may increase your brain’s ability. Your nerves go through a process called myelination. This means your nerves add layers of insulation. These layers help signals travel faster through your nervous system. When working on music, we expand our aural skills, and sharpen our concentration and focus. We are focusing on rhythm and tempo, pitch and volume, melody and harmony all at once. At the same time, students are also focusing on finger positions, body posture and more. Piano instruction enhances children’s abstract reasoning skills which are necessary for learning math and science. Preschool children having piano lessons improve their spatial-temporal reasoning and abstract thinking skills. Learning to play piano requires patience and perseverance, good pianist are masters of discipline. Playing piano group is a social experience that teaches listening, communication and teamwork. Playing piano, and having music in our lives, reduce stress and anxiety.
Q: What do you have to say to those who want to build music careers of their own?
A: Dream big, and work hard. Find mentors and surround yourself with colleagues and peers that inspire you to be your best.
Gaggioni holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, music from Kean University, as well as a piano master’s degree from Juan Jose Landaeta in Caracas, Venezuela. The Venezuela-born Gaggioni has decades of teaching piano, opening Crescendo in West University Place four years ago. She's a 2021 recipient of the Steinway & Sons' Teacher of the Year Award and an inductee into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.