Amy Bhatnagar Music

At the age of nine, I heard "The Entertainer", by Scott Joplin and began begging my parents for piano lessons. There was only one problem.....we didn't have a piano! My wonderful grandparents decided to give me their piano, a beautiful old upright from 1907, that had already been in the family for 20 years. I still have that piano and am thankful to them for giving me an instrument so that I could pursue my piano passion! *insert photo*

I played piano through high school, but pursued a different path in college, obtaining a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. While working at the University of WIsconsin Hospital and Clinics, I became part of the pharmacy school faculty. I quickly realized that I LOVED the teaching part of my job at the hospital. I eventually gave up the pharmacy profession in order to stay at home with our two children. In 2009, I began studying piano seriously again, and quickly fell back in love with piano! My passion for it must have been contagious, as my friends started asking me to teach their children. I hadn't realized how much I missed teaching, and I immediately began learning all I could about piano teaching, while continuing to improve my own playing. 

Over the past several years, I have pursued any opportunity I could find to learn more about piano pedagogy as well as piano playing. The following are some of the things I have done to further my education:

  • Completed the Online Elementary Piano Teaching course through the Royal Conservatory of Music.
  • Achieved the Certified Teacher designation in Elementary Piano through the Royal Conservatory of Music.
  • Taken lessons from Steinway Artist Sandra Wright Shen, as well as participated in pianoSonoma, receiving lessons and coaching from music faculty at Juilliard, The Boston Conservatory, and Samford University
  • Taken classes in Piano Pedagogy with Dr. Gwendolyn Mok at San Jose State University.
  • Joined Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA) and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT), and have attended several national and state conferences. I am currently the Vice President of Districts and Chapters on the CAPMT Executive Board, as well as Vice President of our local chapter.

















Royal Conservatory of Music Certified Teacher