Ghilyana Dordzhieva earned her Master’s degree and Ph.D. (2000) from the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia. With an extensive background in higher education, she previously served as an Associate Professor at both the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and the State University for Culture and Arts. Ghilyana has taught piano in diverse settings, including the Child Development Center at Fort Riley, Kansas; a private piano studio in Kaiserslautern, Germany; and independent teaching in Upstate New York. She uses age-appropriate and play-based methods that integrate piano, singing, music theory, and ear training. Specializing in early childhood music development, her teaching philosophy centers on nurturing a deep, lifelong love of music-making.

Alongside her teaching, Ghilyana actively performs as a church pianist and organist, collaborates with OPRO, and researches traditional Mongolian and European music. Whether guiding a young child through their very first musical steps or mentoring continuing piano students, Ghilyana is dedicated to building confidence, curiosity, and a genuine joy in musical creativity.

Sofya Shainskaya earned her Masters of Music degree at Tashkent Conservatory, Russia. Sofya has been teaching and performing for four decades and was an accompanist for the Olympic gymnastics team and for theater, opera, and ballet in Russia. She also accompanied the famed Glinka Vocal Competition, and taught at the Leningrad College of Music before immigrating to the United States. She is currently the organist and Minister of Music at St. Barnabus Church, Springfield.

Learn with me if…

If you want to learn the piano. I like to teach students of all levels, beginner to advanced, and all ages, children and adults too! My main goal is to introduce everyone to music and the interesting things about it. I enjoy sharing about the history and theory of the music, and also the biographies of composers from many different styles of music, but primarily classical. I’m very dedicated to teaching and caring about my students. In return I expect that students are not only interested in what we do in the lesson, but practice on a steady routine. Success for our lessons depends only on your practice.

Sofya’s Student Testimonials

“I love how Sofya is very patient if I don’t understand something and helps me again and again, leading me to different skills I can use.”