Carla J. Seibert – piano teacher, early childhood music teacher

Music makes me as much as I make it. I fully resonate as a person when I interact through music.

Mission: Help people make music for self-knowledge and artistic interaction.

Music learning motto: audiate, create, celebrate

Roots: Born in Houston, Texas, USA; lived 18 years in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 10 years in Seabrook, Texas; moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2024.

Education: Piano, music theory, composition and music history in formal studies, and singing in informal studies, from the age of 5 to 20. High School Diploma in Piano from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Behavioral Sciences (Rice University). Certified teacher of Orff-Schulwerk Music and Movement Education, by the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. Master’s degree in Piano Performance (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, rated the best of the federal universities in Brazil). Certification in Music Learning Theory applied to early childhood music (Level 1) and piano (Levels 1 and 2), by the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. Graduate Certificate in Injury-Preventive Keyboard Technique from Salem College.

Experience: After a few years as an accompanying pianist and playing at Christmas parties, I worked for several years teaching foreign languages and translating, until deciding to devote myself to music education in 2002. I taught general music for five years in the International Baccalaureate program of the American School of Belo Horizonte. I have taught piano, music and movement independently since 2006. I taught music at the Children’s Day Out program of Seabrook United Methodist Church 2016-18. I played the piano for the choir and congregation at Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church from 2016 to 2019 and accompanied the congregation and soloists from 2022 to 2024. Last year I joined the teaching staff at Songs with Sarah music school.

Musical preferences: I appreciate almost all styles. At the piano, I preferred to play Baroque, Impressionist and contemporary styles. I have listened to many hours of classical, romantic and impressionist styles, jazz, bossa nova, música popular brasileira, Afro-Brazilian percussion, and pop and rock by artists who explore timbres and other expressive means to communicate their messages. I’ve enjoyed diversifying musically, as opposed to specializing – moving, singing and playing in different styles.

Community volunteer work: After graduating from college, I was selected for the Brazil Internship Program of the Downtown YMCA of Houston, the highlight of which was working with toddlers and preschoolers in day care centers in Brazil. In 2015 I sang with the Bay Area Chorus. In September 2015, I taught early childhood music (Music Play) at the La Porte Library. From January to February 2016, I taught another free series of early childhood music classes at Evelyn Meador Library in Seabrook. In 2022-23 I co-facilitated the course Transgender Inclusion in Congregations authored by the Transforming Hearts Collective.

Professional volunteer work: I joined GCMA in September 2015 and BAMTA in May 2016. In 2020 three of my closest colleagues and I launched an endeavor to offer events for Music Moves for Piano students to share their creative music with their peers. Called 4Inspiration we grew to nine teachers offering four events per year to 49 students ages 4 to 70+ from 8 U.S. states, Canada and Portugal. These professional associations, listed below, provide members’ students with many excellent opportunities in music if the teachers are willing to participate in event coordination. In 2024 I joined the Chain of Lakes Music Club.

Non-musical pleasures: reading; travel; family; visual and performing arts; eating well; stretching and breathing the air of forests, the seaside and countryside.

Resume: on LinkedIn

Professional memberships:

• Chain of Lakes Music Club, affiliated with the National and Minnesota Federations of Music Clubs
• Performing Arts Medicine Association
• Co-founder, 4Inspiration
• Past Secretary and President, Bay Area Music Teachers Association, affiliated with the Music Teachers National Association and the Texas Music Teachers Association
• Gulf Coast Music Association, affiliated with the National and Texas Federations of Music Clubs
• Gordon Institute for Music Learning