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Vivace Music School
Meet the Team
Emily
Nadja Flowerdew
Principal
Nadja's love for music became apparent at an early age - as a toddler, she used to sing more than she talked! Similarly, her first experience of being a teacher came early when at the age of ten she began to mentor her exceptionally talented younger brother, who began to play the piano by ear when he was three. He is now a sound designer and composer!
Nadja enjoys playing a number of instruments (piano, accordion and violin) and as a high schooler used to give piano lessons to earn extra pocket money. However, a nagging sense that there was a deeper understanding of music that was eluding her prevented her from pursuing a career in music. Coming to the music school with her oldest in 2012, she immediately saw the genius behind the Kodály method and went on to train as a Kodály teacher, joining the Len Tyler Music School team in 2017. Finding the career that she thought she could never have, Nadja took over the Len Tyler Music School in 2020 during the Coronavirus crisis, creating in Vivace an online platform for delivering Kodály-based music classes.
Nadja is a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) and the British Kodály Academy (BKA), and is certified with the BKA.
Karen van Lokven
Teacher
Karen's musical life began at the age of 8 when she was inspired to take up the clarinet after watching BBC Young Musician of the Year, Emma Johnson. She passed her grade 8 clarinet with merit at the age of 15, whilst also studying piano and classical guitar. Karen chose to major in clarinet solo and ensemble performance as part of her Music and English degree at Southampton University, graduating with a 2.1 in 1997. She pursued an interest in special needs education and then in 2004 she set up a private practice teaching clarinet, saxophone and piano. Since then Karen has worked in several private schools and now works for Surrey Arts in Waverley. Karen first met Len Tyler in 2004 when she joined the Rushmoor Concert Band which Len was then conducting. She was intrigued by the vocal warm ups which Len insisted on starting rehearsals with and increasingly fascinated by the Kodály approach to music. Karen is convinced that the Kodály approach practised by Vivace (formerly Len Tyler Music School) is the way forward. Her own children have been attending the school since 2011, with her daughter attending from 6 weeks. She has trained with the British Kodály Academy, Colourstrings International and other organisations.
Frances Philpot
Teacher
Throughout her life, Frances has always been actively involved in music. Since starting to play the recorder, piano and violin as a youngster, as well as singing in the church choir, she has constantly been a member of at least one choir or orchestra, performing in concerts being a regular feature in her life. She has played viola in Woking Symphony Orchestra since 2002, particularly enjoying the annual children’s concert each January. She thoroughly enjoys opportunities for occasional ad hoc string quartetting.
Her musical hobby has proved to have a huge overlap with her career as a primary school teacher, as Frances has been put in charge of music at each school she has worked in, putting on shows, running choirs and mixed bands at every opportunity, from Cheshire to Essex, Ecuador and back to Surrey! Sharing and inspiring a love of music has been of paramount importance throughout her teaching career of over 25 years. The search for a top quality introduction to music led Frances to take her pre-school daughter to the Len Tyler Music School, now Vivace, which in turn has led to a growing interest in the Kodály approach.
Frances now combines teaching primary class music with teaching piano and pre-school music, the ideal combination for keeping her on her musical toes!
Maureen Vegh
Early Years Teacher
Maureen was born into a musical family and her love and passion for music became evident at a very young age. Her first instruments were piano and violin and throughout her primary ages she played in a training orchestra. She then took up the flute when she was 10 years old and as a rebellious teenager decided to start a rock band and embarked on a mission to teach herself the guitar. Throughout her teenage years she was involved in many musical projects including the school band, a rock band, church choir, jazz band, and even a barn dance band where she earnt some pocket money! She was also involved in a gamelan project for a while where she performed both in Brighton and at school.
Today her love for music continues. She plays her flute in a local concert band and always has other music projects on the go. Her latest is learning the hammered dulcimer and composing on it.
Maureen was introduced to the Kodály approach to teaching music when she started to bring her son with complex needs to classes. She has been attending the classes with him for many years and has seen first-hand the amazing impact Kodály has on children, and how intuitive it is. Having spent time working with young children, Maureen is delighted to combine her twin passions for music and working with young children in pursuing music teaching with Vivace Music School.
Veron Lau
Teacher
Veron Lau, a freelance musician, has been engaged in music education for 20 years. she mainly teaches piano, flute and music theory.
She graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Technical theatre arts with honour, majoring in sound design, music recording and music composition. She also studied the Postgraduate Diploma in Education Program of the University of Hong Kong, majoring in Music Education (Primary School) and later she got
After graduation, she collaborated with different primary schools to compose musical theatre works and organise graduation musical for the schools.
Meanwhile, she had taught students playing flute and piano in group class or individually at different primary schools. She had also worked as a piano accompanist and piano teacher in the Wong Tai Sin Children's Choir in HK for many years, responsible for teaching and organising different concerts in different scales. During that period, she also was a pianist and singer in a jazz band, and was invited to perform at various weddings, events and shopping mall arts programs etc. Later, She worked in church in Hong Kong for 7 years. She was responsible for worship band training and teaching instrumental and vocal ensemble techniques.
Currently she is a piano accompanist for the Guildford Baptist Church Choir and keyboardist in worship team.
The reason why she loves most about teaching music is that she believes music was created as a language to express the deepest feelings of the soul. Therefore our lives can be enriched beyond the limitations of words. She enjoys playing music with children and feels enriched by each other. She also hope that they can also enjoy and meet more different people through music.
At Vivace music school, she met teachers who love music and teach children attentively. The entire music learning atmosphere is lively and interesting. Children enjoy it and it gives them a solid musical foundation. This is a team of teachers that she appreciates and is happy to be a part of.
Amreen Juneja
Administrator
Amreen is our new administrator, bringing over 20 years of customer service experience. She began her career as a Dispensing Optician at Specsavers after completing her optics degree at City and Islington College, before spending 10 years with British Airways. These roles not only allowed her to travel and experience different cultures but also gave her the chance to work with children, whether helping a child with their first pair of glasses or comforting a young traveller flying alone.
As a mother of two, Amreen has attended various baby and toddler groups, which deepened her understanding of the importance of early childhood development. After a 7-year career break and starting her own craft business, she wanted to support a local company with a strong community focus. She wishes she had discovered the Kodály method when her children were younger, believing it would have been a wonderful way for them to explore the world of music.
Karen
Nadja
Frances
Angela
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