My name is Chris Foley. I'm a pianist with a passion for teaching, collaborative piano, blogging, technology, productivity, and curriculum creation. I'm a faculty member and Senior Examiner for RCM Examinations, and travel North America for several months out of the year listening to hundreds of promising young musicians. I have a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music, and have previously taught at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia.
I like building stuff. In 2005 I started the Collaborative Piano Blog, which has since become one of the top classical music blogs in the world. A few years ago, I wrote a free ebook called 31 Days to Better Practicing, and I'm honored to hear that it has inspired so many people to develop and continue their practice journey. In mid 2012, my wife Wendy Hatala Foley and I started Foley Music and Arts, a company designed to encompass our various arts activities, and since then the process of running a startup company has transformed the way I look at running a studio in today's changing arts climate. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, we were one of the first studios to move completely online, and since then we have moved to a hybrid system of in-person and online lessons in order to meet the needs of our diverse student body.
Dr. Natalka Podstawka has dedicated her career to enriching people’s joy and knowledge of piano and music theory. As an experienced and active instructor and performer, she has taught the Inter Baccalaureate program, in-studio piano and theory classes, and university courses. Her concerts and repertoire span from solo piano and collaborative performances to studio recordings of modern and classical pieces. Natalka has a Doctorate of Arts in Piano Performance with a minor in Theory/Composition from Ball State University. She received her Master of Music in Piano Performance from Wayne State University and Bachelor of Music Honours from the University of Toronto. Natalka also holds an ARCT in both Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy with the designation of Advanced Piano Specialist from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Natalka looks forward to helping each one of her students meet and exceed their goals for the piano.
Isabella Foley is our piano teacher who focuses on beginner piano students. She is a student at McMaster University and teaches on Wednesdays and Saturdays using the Faber Piano Adventures method and the RCM curriculum. After students have reached approximately RCM Level 3, they will move on to the studios of either Chris or Natalka.
