Andrew is a piano teacher based in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, where he maintains a private piano studio and serves as accompanist for several local choral ensembles, including all three choirs of the Celebration Singers (Celebration Singers, Grace Notes, and Men of Notes), the Comox Valley Military Wives Choir, and the CoVal Choristers. He is also the Choral Director at Comox Valley Presbyterian Church, an examiner for the Canadian National Conservatory of Music, and a member of the BC Registered Music Teachers’ Association and the Comox Valley Piano Teachers’ Society.
Andrew is committed to lifelong professional learning. In 2026, he completed the Piano Level 1 Professional Development Course through the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML) and continues advanced study in Music Learning Theory. This work has deepened his approach to piano teaching by emphasizing audiation, creativity, improvisation, and the development of independent musicianship alongside strong technical and artistic foundations.
Andrew studied piano pedagogy and early childhood music with Dr. Lesley Sisterhen-McAllister at Baylor University, where he helped establish what has since become a thriving early childhood music program for children from birth to age five. During this time, he taught both private piano lessons and group music classes to children of all ages.
He holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (cum laude, 2008) from Baylor University and a Master of Music in Applied Music (Piano, 2010) from the University of Alberta. His principal teachers were Jane Abbott-Kirk and Jacques Després, and he has participated in masterclasses with distinguished pianists including Krassimira Jordan, Stéphane Lemelin, Jane Magrath, Alan Chow, Nelita True, Bruce Vogt, and Peter Mack.
Early in his career, Andrew developed a particular interest in healthy piano technique, performance anxiety, and injury prevention through the work of Dorothy Taubman and the Alexander Technique. This interest led to presentations at international conferences and workshops for local music teacher associations.
Before relocating to the Comox Valley in 2020, Andrew served as Continuing Education Convener for the Alberta Piano Teachers’ Association and maintained a thriving piano studio at Taylor College in Edmonton for ten years. He has received numerous scholarships and awards throughout his studies and, in 2014, performed at the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, in the historic Haydnsaal of Esterházy Palace.