“As a piano teacher, I don’t set a goal of perfection,” says Mirela Chisbora. “I am more a guide on a musical journey. I offer a map and a compass, and help my students set and achieve their goals. The journey is different for each individual.” With considerable expertise and experience, Mirela is a wise and supportive guide.
Music has been an essential part of Mirela’s life since her earliest childhood in Romania. Her father was a violinist with the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic, her mother a music teacher, and her brother a clarinetist. “There was always music in the home,” she remembers. “Some of my fondest memories are of playing music with my father.”
In Cluj-Napoca, Mirela’s pre-college education was enriched with music classes and activities. Those unique advantages have stayed with her. “To be surrounded by other people who love music is inspiring and creates a sense of belonging,” she reflects. She went on to earn a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and a doctoral degree in music and piano performance from Stony Brook University.
Mirela’s approach to teaching is thoughtful and comprehensive. She works with students “from the time a child is comfortable sitting at the piano, through all stages of musical development. It is rewarding to see students grow, to expose them to the problem-solving skills they need to become well-rounded, expressive musicians. Music ability is acquired much like a language. Reading, listening, analytical skills, emotions, fine-motor coordination, and memorization all play a part. What comes easily to an adult can be difficult for a child, and the opposite is also true. Everyone learns, just in different ways. It is a teacher’s role to help a student integrate the very diverse skills that unlock the ability to play and enjoy music.”
Asked what she’d like her students to know about her, Mirela says “I’d like my students to know that I practice, too! As a player, I like to dwell on the works of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. But I really do enjoy all styles and time periods. I’d advise students to start their day by listening to a masterwork. Listen to as diverse a range of music as possible.”
When not working, Mirela loves to be in nature. She’s an enthusiastic gardener, taking pleasure in designing the elements of her garden to work together to please the eye. “It’s not unlike classical music, in that expressive design element!” she says.
Music is never far from Mirela’s mind. “It is present everywhere in our lives, from the first lullaby sung to a child, to all our milestones and celebrations. Music is our common human experience. It has such expressive power. As an art form, it distills human emotions across cultures and countries, across place and time.”
Moreover, “music involves more areas of the brain than any other human activity,” she says. “It requires the integration of so many functions. As with language, music students learn to perceive and anticipate patterns, and the more skilled they become, the more those perceptions and the intrinsic ability to enjoy music grow, too. There’s no end to the possibilities!”
Where would you like to go?
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Mirela Chisbora is currently accepting new piano students for private lessons at Cape Symphony’s Barnstable and Falmouth campuses. To arrange a lesson, call 508.362.2772, or email
