About Our Teachers
Melinda Bateman
Melinda Bateman holds an M.M. in piano performance and pedagogy from Cal State University, Northridge and a B.A. in music from Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. While at CSUN, she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in piano pedagogy, was a prize winner in the Los Angeles Liszt Competition, and helped direct a campus-run Piano for Youth program providing lessons to children in the community and teacher training to aspiring college-age students. Her thesis: The Piano Works of Robert Starer: A Pedagogical Look at his Intermediate-Level Compositions, was published in 1994.
After graduating from CSUN, Melinda served on the faculty of Mount St. Mary’s College in Brentwood, CA where she taught private and class piano as well as music fundamentals for eight years.
She joined Moorpark Community College in 2002 and remained on faculty there for nine years, providing both private and class piano instruction. She is an active member of both MTAC and MTNA.
Melinda has been teaching piano privately for almost 30 years. She currently maintains an active music studio in North Hollywood and has been part of the Upper Hands Piano team for the past six years. For the past eight years, she has studied and refined her teaching methods with a particular emphasis on engaging middle aged and older adult students in the music learning process.
Michael Monagan
Michael Monagan received his BA from Boston University and his credential in special education from Cal State University Northridge, too many years ago to mention. Starting with violin lessons as a young child, Michael has been a multi-instrumentalist for most of his life. Michael has worked with Upper Hands Piano students since it’s inception. He teaches singing and songwriting to Upper Hands Piano students who want to accompany themselves and create their own magic. Additionally Michael teaches blues, boogie-woogie, rock, world music and New Age styles. Equally comfortable on keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and in front of a microphone, Michael helps his students follow their dreams.