Welcome to the studio of Kent Baker!

I have coached pianists, vocalists, and instrumentalists for nearly thirty years.   It has been my privilege to work with outstanding students at levels from beginner to the college major.  Regardless of age or experience, I enjoy helping students achieve their goals.  Some students are beginners, some are proficient, others are musicians learning piano as a secondary instrument to prepare for a college major in music.  Vocalists and instrumentalists that are preparing for auditions have worked with me as a coach and accompanist.  What all of these people have in common is that they practice, and succeed.

It is my job to prepare these students to achieve their goals.  I cannot and will not take credit for their hard work and dedication to detailed preparation.  I can tell you that I have watched these students succeed at New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) auditions for Area and Conference All-State, Vermont All-State and Scholarship auditions, New England Music Festival Association auditions, and many scholarship and concerto competitions.

Depending on the age and goal of the piano student, I use a multiple-key approach (Bastien), the Suzuki repertoire, or a combination of the two.  As for voice and instrumental  students, repertoire is chosen based on level of achievement, and focus of study.  Theory, aural skills, history, and musicianship are intertwined.  I also provide the opportunity for supplemental at-home computer drill.

I am a classically-trained pianist and accompanist with a degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music, where I studied piano with Frank Iogha and Ronald Tarr.   Growing up, I was fortunate to study with (among others) Edward Hausman, who was a Schirmer prize winner at Juilliard, and Lucia Lawrence, a Catholic organist who taught me attention to detail at a young age.

While at Crane, I served as accompanist for the Collegiate Singers and Crane Chorus, under the direction of my conducting mentor and friend, Brock McElheran. I have accompanied numerous festival ensembles as well as readings under Franz Allers, Don Besig, Robert DeCormier, Zubin Mehta, and others. My performances include the worldwide telecast of the Statue of Liberty Centenary opening ceremonies on Governor’s Island, the closing concerts premiering William Schumann’s "On Freedom’s Ground" at Lincoln Center, the 1986 New York State School Music Association Winter Conference at Kiamesha Lake, the 1986 American Choral Directors’ Association National Festival at New York City and the 1991 Vermont Bicentennial Band and Chorus.

I am an instructor at Castleton State College, teaching applied jazz piano and beginning classroom piano. I am the music director of the forty-piece Poultney-Granville Town Band. An organist since the age of ten, I serve as organist and choir director for both St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church and the Poultney United Methodist Church. I am an adjudicator for the New England Festival Music Association.

I have adjudicated for the Vermont Music Educators’ Association scholarship committee, the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and have served as a panelist for the Vermont Council on the Arts (NEA) Arts-in-Education grants. I have served as music director and pianist for the Marble City Swing Band based in Rutland, VT and as pianist for many jazz combos. I have served as the staff pianist and applied piano instructor at Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT) and as accompanist for choruses and musicals at Castleton (VT) State College. While serving as music facilitator for the Rutland Southwest Supervisory Union, I was named as a Distinguished Leader in Vermont Arts Education by the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education. I also hold a masters degree in computer and information sciences from the University of Phoenix.

I have reestablished my private music studio following seventeen years in public school music education, coaching piano, voice, brass and woodwinds.

Please click on the curriculum vitae link if you would like more information about me.  If you would like to interview for lessons or coaching, please e-mail me or telephone (802) 287-1066.

I look forward to meeting with you.

All the best--

Kent Baker
351 Bentley AV
Poultney, VT 05764
kentbaker@ginsumusic.com

This page was last updated on January 12, 2011.