Testimonials

I started taking lessons with Lauren in 2015. I studied piano from age 9-19, but then got busy studying medicine and never got back to it in a dedicated way. After a 20+ year hiatus of sporadic playing/performing and not really practicing, it was obvious to me that my playing needed remediation.

In the beginning Lauren introduced me to the Taubman/Golandsky approach and patiently “de-constructed” my old bad habits; at first it was quite challenging to go through the process but soon after the results were quite evident: my technique has improved, my tone has more variety, my playing is more even and relaxed. It also helped me explore more natural fingering options resulting in better sound quality.

Lauren helped me tremendously in learning how to practice effectively and develop more consistency both in practice and performance. Her feedback is honest yet nonjudgmental and supportive - her lessons are extremely enjoyable. She is very detail oriented and goes very deep into the texture of music.

Since I started taking lessons with Lauren I have grown as a pianist. I also started to believe that I deserve a better piano, and now own a wonderful dream come true grand piano and enjoy every moment of it!

Through Lauren’s class, I also expanded my social circle of fellow piano lovers, and our semiannual master class feels like meeting old friends and family. I feel very grateful to have her as my piano teacher - she is an exceptional piano pedagogue! I wish I'd had a teacher like her in my childhood!

Željko Milovanović, MD

Family and Integrative medicine physician

Lauren Cony has been an excellent teacher for my two children. They have made great musical progress in the two years they have been studying with her. She has been so good with them, that I started studying with her. Most wonderfully, she has created a mutually supportive musical community of young and adult students who all study with her. We all feel fortunate to be her students.

Edwin Cheng, MD

Lauren Cony is a superb piano teacher. She has taught me for more than 5 years, during which my skills and confidence have grown enormously. I have attended her studio recitals and seen this growth in all her students, who range from 5 to 80. One of her most impressive skills is the ability to be both rigorous and supportive at the same time. She makes learning fun. She is simply a great teacher.

Mavis Hawley DeWees,

Psychotherapist

Lauren has taught music to some or all of my five children for over twelve years. Recommended to me by the SF Conservatory of Music, she has been an absolutely wonderful combination of professional competence and charming encouragement. She combines a very high standard of teaching with a somewhat rare ability to relate to and bring out the very best efforts from children. Lauren coaxes her students to perform to a high standard and at the same time becomes their friend. I would unhesitatingly recommend her to you as a piano teacher, and have done so many times to my own friends. She is a lovely person and a gifted musician and teacher.

Judith Brass

MBA, Harvard Business School

I have been taking piano lessons with Lauren for the past five years, and I am still amazed by her superb teaching skills and her ability to convey musical ideas. I have had other teachers before, and I am not sure if Lauren’s other students realize how lucky they are to have a great teacher.

With my previous teachers, I would learn my pieces, play the notes, but I couldn’t play beautifully. It was a rather frustrating experience, because I knew I didn’t sound right. My teachers would tell me to “feel the music”, but I didn’t know what that meant, and even if they tried to explain it to me, they were unable to teach me how to create a beautiful sound. Back then, playing the piano seemed like a mystery to me, an elusive art mastered by relatively few talented people.

Through effective use of piano technique (in particular the Taubman techniques), proper phrasing and interpretation, Lauren has taught me how to “feel the music” and how to play it. With Lauren’s direction, I have made great progress – I am able to play my pieces well and create that beautiful sound I was looking for. I started taking piano lessons late in life when I was 29 and, of course, I have my own limitations, but the piano is no longer a mystery to me.

Farhad Zabihi, Ph.D.

Mathematics U.C. Berkeley

Since the fall of 1997, I have been blessed to have found such a phenomenal piano teacher. Lauren not only taught me the fundamental and technical skills involved with playing piano, but her unique teaching style has encouraged me to develop my passion for music. She possesses an incredible amount of patience and energy during each lesson which in turn translates into a fun yet cerebrally-stimulating class. In addition, she teaches each of her students at their own pace and style, specifically attending to each person’s individual needs and interests. I studied music with Lauren for 12 years, and I know that she fundamentally cares for each of her students. She strives for their success and progress as well as their well being. I could not have asked for a better piano teacher.

Caprice Hong

Student, Northeastern University

I'm 42, and have studied piano most of my life. Lauren has been my teacher since I moved to San Francisco 14 years ago, and has been instrumental in keeping me motivated and challenged - and having fun! As a teacher, Lauren is patient, kind, and attentive to each student's individual needs. She's also an enormously talented musician in her own right. I would recommend her to any student at any level without reservation.

Julie Caskey

Film Video Editor

Testimonials

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Edwin Cheng, MD