Professional
Piano

When she’s not teaching lessons and classes or participating in a variety of state- and nation-wide leadership roles, Wendi hosts yearly concerts.

About Wendi

Wendi-Headshot

Wendi Kirby is both a performer and instructor. When she began taking on her own students at age 15, Wendi had the opportunity to work with her piano teacher, Carolee Eriksson, as a mentor. Carolee was Wendi’s inspiration for making piano fun yet disciplined, and learned how to encourage her students to become the best pianists and well-rounded musicians possible through their studies. After 35 years, Wendi’s approach is still the same: teach performance, music theory, and music history from a variety of genres and several techniques, including improvisation, arrangements, and composition.

Through her own study and practice, Wendi developed her talents to such heights that she earned a full scholarship for Piano Performance from the University of the Pacific. She soon turned her piano instruction experience into a personal business and complemented it with Kindermusik: group classes that utilize early childhood education through music.

Wendi has been awarded the Kindermusik Maestro Award: the highest recognition awarded by Kindermusik International for top programs that profoundly impact the mission to reach all children with the benefits of Kindermusik instruction. However, after 29 years of Kindermusik, her classes have evolved so significantly that most of the curriculum taught in her classroom is now her own. Miss Wendi is celebrating her 30th anniversary with the launch of her own group instruction called Minuet—music, and movement for 3-month-old through three-year-old children. Combined with her piano-teaching experience, Miss Wendi can lead a student through their own musical journey starting from birth all the way through adulthood.

When she’s not teaching piano or leading Minuet classes, Wendi Kirby is honing her own craft: practicing piano, taking lessons (yes, even teachers need their own teachers!), attending conferences, seminars, and artist-in-residence-hosted music festivals, rising through the ranks of state- and nation-wide associations, and earning an array of certifications.

Accolades

Royal Conservatory of Music

  • Associate of The Royal Conservatory (ARCT) Performer’s Diploma in Piano
  • Certified Teacher - Advanced Specialist Piano
  • Certified Teacher - Intermediate Music Theory Specialist
  • Music Center Representative, Founding Teacher, and Founding School

California Association of Professional Music Teachers

  • Nationally Certified Teacher of Music
  • President: 2019 - Current
  • President-Elect: 2017 - 2019
  • Served on CAPMT Board as District Director, VP of Districts and Chapters: 2013 - 2017

Music Teachers Association of California

  • Member since 1990
  • Served for over twenty years in a variety of capacities including President, Vice President, and Director.
  • Evaluator for Certificate of Merit Program