Piano

Michelle Tapp is a pianist, accompanist, and opera coach based in the Chicagoland area. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance with Honors from the University of Notre Dame, she continued to pursue her musical education with a master’s in Piano Performance from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts as well as a master’s in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan. Michelle is greatly passionate about all things collaborative in music, including chamber music and art song, musical theater and opera, and commissioning and performing works by local composers. Her collaborative career has included performances and productions across the many Great Lakes states she has called home as well as across Italy and the Czech Republic. As a teacher and educator, Michelle has enjoyed a wide range of students from very young beginning pianists to pre-college students preparing for competitions and auditions to adult students learning a new and fulfilling hobby. She also enjoys interdisciplinary teaching and coaching, often working with voice students on foreign language diction and performance practice as well as string and wind instrumental students on musicality and collaboration. She firmly believes that every lesson and every performance is an opportunity for learning and growth for both student and teacher alike.

Hi, I’m Michelle!

My first priority is always to foster a positive relationship with the piano that will grow into a lifelong enthusiasm for music. As a teacher, I love to see my students flourish in an environment that builds self-motivation and joy. I also focus on instilling foundational musical knowledge and practice techniques that will be useful no matter where my students’ musical journeys take them, whether to advanced piano studies, picking up another instrument, or learning songs just for fun. Piano lessons are such an excellent avenue for self expression, problem solving, and confidence building at all ages and skill levels, so I aim to meet every student where they’re at and use all of my knowledge and creativity to help them to reach their individual goals and find what excites and motivates them along the way.