Registered and certified member of the following organizations:

Austin District Music Teachers Association (ADMTA)
Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA)
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)

My Teaching philosophy:

I teach students of all ages, starting at age 5 to adults. I constantly and tirelessly work on true musicianship through developing excellent technical skills in my students. This allows them to easily tackle and perform pieces with technical and musical challenges.

I motivate my students by demonstrating them an efficient and fruitful practicing techniques during lessons, so they know how to practice on their own.

I focus students' attention on creating beautiful sound, perfect rhythm and timing from the very beginning. This way they know how a piece of music ought to sound, and start working on achieving flawless performance from the very beginning of the learning process. It makes learning process and music-making more enjoyable.

For me and my students piano learning is a pleasant, effortless, and relaxing experience.

In addition to this, my advantage and unique approach rests on me being a performing artist with extensive repertoire. Therefore I am able to demonstrate live to my students any piece from my repertoire .

My students won various competitions, including the winner of the 2004 Austin Symphony Concerto Competition, and were invited to perform recitals in many countries, including Simon Mayr Festival in Ingolstadt, Germany in October 2004.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

As Musician-in Residence at Acadia University, Canada, and the musical ambassador of Nova Scotia, Dr. Saida Kafarova, performed her Carnegie Hall debut recital in June 2000, as a winner of Artists International Special Presentation Recital Award. Commented one eminent listener, "In my time I have heard all the great - Paderewski, Hofmann, Rachmaninov. You are top rank. Artistry, poetry, soul of the highest order." After studying with the legendary Tatiana Nikolayeva at the Moscow Conservatory , she came to Austin to pursue her graduate studies with Anton Nel and Gregory Allen, and received doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2003.

Orchestras: A frequent performer with the Azerbaijan Philharmonic and Azerbaijan State Conservatory Symphony, Ms. Kafarova has premiered several works by contemporary composers, for solo piano and for piano and orchestra. More recently, in Canada, Ms. Kafarova appeared with the European Union Chamber Orchestra on their North American debut tour; with the Saint John String Quartet in numerous concerts; with Stepan Arman, the winner of the CBC National Strings Competition and with Alexander Tselyakov, prizewinner of the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, and with the renowned Verdi Quartet. In January 1999 she performed the Brahms Second Piano Concerto under the direction of Maestro Maura with the Symphony New Brunswick to a sold out audience in the Imperial Theater in Saint John.

Concerts: She toured many parts of the former Soviet Union and performed in Russia, notably in the Grand Hall in Moscow and in the White Hall of St Petersburg Conservatory. She was invited to perform with violinist David Yonan for his Honor the German Ambassador on the last minute notice, and on another occasion for his Honor the British Ambassador in Istanbul. At the European Arts Festival she gave a recital, arranged by the Istanbul Goethe Institute. In the summer 2000 she played in front of their Honors the Count and ! Countess of Essex during their trip to Canada. In December 2003 she performed with the Metropolitan Opera diva Emily Pulley in Christmas Eve program at the last minute notice.

Prizes: In 1983 she won the top prize at the First Chamber Music Festival in Baku, and in 1985 won a special prize at the Caucasus Piano Competition. The Sabah Newspaper Guild awarded her as an outstanding duo-pianist for the recital at the Ataturk Cultural Center, the main concert hall in Istanbul. In March 2001 she was chosen as a finalist to perform at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York.

Radio/TV shows: She performed live from Halifax on "Take Five", the CBC radio broadcast, heard regionally and nationally. Just recently KMFA Classical broadcasted three recitals of Ms. Kafarova playing the rare virtuoso masterpieces and interview with her. She will be featured live at KMFA "Classical Austin" on November 30, 2004

Organizations: She is a founder and Music Director of the Young Artists Program at the First United Methodist Church in Round Rock, Texas.

SCHEDULE

(Upcoming performances, master classes and lectures in 2004):

Queens University, Canada
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts Chamber Series
Istanbul State University
Recital in Japan
Canadian Embassy in Oslo
EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association) Duo-Piano Conference in Stavanger
Texas State University in San Marcos
A. Mozart Fest Series, Austin, December 5, at 4:30 PM, 4700 Grover St.

SELECTED UPCOMING LECTURES and PERFORMANCES by Piano Duo Saida Kafarova and Desiree Bakke

Summer Piano Program in Florence, Italy, June-July, 2005
EPTA Conference, Manchester, England, September 1-4, 2005
Tour of Norway, November, 2005, including
Norwegian State School of Music in Oslo;
Oslo Music Teachers Association's 100th Anniversary Celebration Concerts;
Eastside Church in Fredrikstad;
Canadian Embassy in Oslo, Chamber Music Series
I offer the following curriculums:

Royal American Conservatory Examinations
Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music examinations
Whitlock Theory Test
ADMTA and MTNA festivals, contests and competitions
The newest CD by Saida Kafarova featuring piano works by Nikolai Medtner and
Sergey Rachmaninoff, is now available at www.amazon.ca and www.indiepool.com.