Little Mirror Music Lessons
Memphis and Germantown, TennesseeWe focus on building relationships with our students and their families.Our students have won competitions, scholarships, and auditions for college programs and music festivals such as Eastern Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Florida State University.Take weekly piano and violin lessons with award-winning teaching artists:
Christina Lai, DM (Nominated for WKU Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning Teaching Honors)
and Pedro Maia, DM (Nominated for Student Employee of the Year Award for Teaching).Let us help you or your child develop your love for music!
Christina Lai, piano
From Plantation, Florida, Christina Lai finds passion in all fields of music teaching and collaboration. Seeking to bring diverse repertoire to audiences in local communities, Christina has collaborated with her chamber ensembles to focus on supporting works written by female composers. Christina has performed in venues and at festivals across the United States and Europe, including at University of South Florida, University of Florida University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Interlochen School of the Arts, Chautauqua Institution, Brancaleoni International Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival and School as a Thomas S. Kenan Fellow.Christina received her Master’s and Doctorate of Music in piano performance with a specialized study in piano pedagogy under the guidance of Professors Read Gainsford and Diana Dumlavwalla. She was also one of four chosen as a William R. Kenan Jr. Music Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music and a Chemistry minor.
Pedro Maia, violin
Brazilian violinist Pedro Maia has an extensive experience performing as a soloist and chamber musician. He has played in some of the most prestigious venues throughout Asia, South America, and North America including Weill Hall at Carnegie, Sala São Paulo, and Seoul National Theater. At the age of fifteen, Pedro debuted with the ArtBrasilia Symphony Orchestra, and he often performed both as concertmaster and soloist with many orchestras at the Brasilia School of Music and University of Brasilia.An active pedagogue as well, Pedro has years of experience teaching students from the most diverse backgrounds. He has a private studio in Tallahassee, FL and has been on the faculty of festivals in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, USA, and Mexico. As a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University, he teaches chamber music as well as technique classes for undergraduates. For the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra, he coaches middle and high school students.Pedro received his doctoral degree in violin performance at Florida State University. His principal teachers have included Erich Lehninger, Katia Andrade, Nadia Nedialkova, Stephen Redfield, and Shannon Thomas.
Teaching
Both Pedro and Christina are strong advocates for music education and strive to provide engaging and thought-provoking teaching. We work with our students to build musical independence and critical thinking skills that will help develop each students potential not only as musicians, but also as human beings.Co-founders of Chamber Music Festanza (summer chamber music intensive), they are both experienced with teaching all ages and levels of students. Watch the video to see what their students think and explore their Instagram to hear the students play!
Christina Lai, piano
From Plantation, Florida, Christina Lai finds passion in all fields of music teaching and collaboration. Seeking to bring diverse repertoire to audiences in local communities, Christina has collaborated with her chamber ensembles to focus on supporting works written by female composers. Through collaborations with composers such as Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Missy Mazzoli, and Liliya Ugay, Christina has brought their music to parts across the state of Florida. With her piano trio Trio Riva, she was invited to debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall to premiere a work related to the COVID-19 pandemic by Lilya Ugay written for the trio.Christina has performed in venues and at festivals across the United States and Europe, including at University of South Florida, University of Florida University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Interlochen School of the Arts, Chautauqua Institution, Brancaleoni International Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival and School as a Thomas S. Kenan Fellow. She has won various prizes in various competitions including the Florida State University Chapman/Neeson Competition, National Association of Negro Musicians Piano Competition, Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Competition, Rosen-Schaffel Competition, and Young Artists Piano Competition of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association. Additionally, she has received guidance from artists such as Richard Goode, Nelita True, John Perry, Boris Slutsky, Natalya Antonova, Phillipe Entremont, Ian Hobson, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Winston Choi, and Daniel Shapiro.Complementing to her musical ventures, Christina has been invited to give presentations and workshops on piano pedagogy at conferences such as the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and Florida State Music Teachers Annual Conference and for other MTNA chapters. She has taught for Western Kentucky University, Florida State University, University of North Florida, Aspen Music Festival and School’s Passes and Lessons Scholarship Program, DC Strings Workshop, Good Sam Arts, and UNC’s Musical Empowerment (a non-profit organization designed to provide free lessons to underprivileged children). Her students have received scholarships and have been accepted into collegiate-level piano programs.Christina received her Master’s and Doctorate of Music in piano performance with a specialized study in piano pedagogy under the guidance of Professors Read Gainsford and Diana Dumlavwalla. She was also one of four chosen as a William R. Kenan Jr. Music Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Music and a Chemistry minor.
Pedro Maia, violin
Brazilian violinist Pedro Maia has an extensive experience performing as a soloist and chamber musician. He has played in some of the most prestigious venues throughout Asia, South America, and North America including Weill Hall at Carnegie, Sala São Paulo, and Seoul National Theater. At the age of fifteen, Pedro debuted with the ArtBrasilia Symphony Orchestra, and he often performed both as concertmaster and soloist with many orchestras at the Brasilia School of Music and University of Brasilia.Recently Pedro made his Mexico debut soloing the Four Seasons by Piazzolla with the Orquesta Filarmonica Tlaxcalan. Pedro is a founding member of Cosmos New Music ensemble, which had their Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Hall in 2018. He is also a member of Trio Riva and was a member of Florida State University’s graduate string quartet Eppes String Quartet. He has won several chamber music competitions, such as Music Teacher National Association’s Young Artist String Ensemble Competitions, Mississippi Music Teachers Association String Competition and Great Composers Competition. He is often invited to judge youth string competitions in Florida.As an orchestral musician Pedro is a member of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and holds the principal second violin position with the Albany Symphony. Pedro has performed with some of the leading conductors in the world including Paul Tortelier, Ira Levin, Kurt Mazur, and Emil Tabakov. His orchestral and chamber music engagements have brought collaborations with artists such as Shlomo Mintzs, Itzhak Perlman, Roberto Diaz, Alex Klein, Yo-Yo Ma, Albrecht Mayer, Giles Apap, Igudesman and Joo, and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.An active pedagogue as well, Pedro has years of experience teaching students from diverse backgrounds. He maintained a private studio in Tallahassee, FL and has been on the faculty of festivals in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, USA, and Mexico. As a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University, he taught chamber music as well as technique classes for undergraduate students. For the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra, he coached precollege students and founded and directed TYO’s first camerata. His private students and chamber groups have placed in competitions such as the NOLA Chamber Fest.Besides these musical activities, Pedro is a Global Leaders Program’s alumnus, which helped him enhance his leadership, teaching artistry, marketing, and management skills. Pedro holds a doctoral degree and a master’s degree in violin performance from Florida State University and a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. Currently, he is an Iris Fellow for Germantown’s Iris Orchestra. His principal teachers have included Erich Lehninger, Katia Andrade, Nadia Nedialkova, Stephen Redfield, and Shannon Thomas.
Testimonials
It was a true joy to study with Dr. Lai. She is uplifting and always positive, but is also authentic and real. She gets to the core of what needs to be done to improve one's playing and has an incredible ear. She's a genuinely kind and compassionate human being, and is one of the best pianists I've ever heard play. Studying with her really improved my playing, increased my awareness of my sound, and also increased my awareness of how my sound is perceived by the audience.Braeden DI started lessons with Christina Lai a little over a year ago, and she has taught me amazing technique that I hadn't learned with my other teachers in the past. She was referred to me by a long-time family friend, who said she was one of the best that I could learn from. She is very sweet and easy to talk to, as well as understanding and accommodating to anything that may come up.JalisaIt was mind blowing to see how good [Pedro Maia] is at what he does and how much I miss being able to learn from him.
Param