Teaching Staff

Irina

Jermakian

Ms. Irina has close to 30 years’ experience in educating children and adults of all ages and levels in classical piano. Her educational background is most impressive. As a student, she started her studies at the age of 6, entering a classical piano school in Yerevan, Armenia — a former Soviet Union Republic. At the age of 14, she was admitted to the Tchaikovsky Musical Academy in Yerevan. After graduation, she successfully passed the Komitas Conservatory admittance exams and joined the class of renowned pianist, Professor Georgie Saradjev, earning a Master of Arts degree in Piano Performance and Teaching. Her performance career started at the age of 7 when soloing in her first city performance concert. Since then Irina has performed as a soloist and with orchestras for many respectful audiences. Ms. Irina started her pedagogical career while being a student at the Komitas Conservatory. Since then, Irina has educated hundreds of children and adults enrolled in her classes. Many of them have participated and have won in professional performance contests. Some of Irina's students have chosen the path of professional performer or educator, themselves. Ms. Irina immigrated to the US with her husband and two daughters in 1991. The same year, she successfully launched her school in West LA. Because of her husband's job-related move, she had to start her practice all over — this time in Ann Arbor, MI. Three years later the practice was interrupted again due to another move, this time to Chicago. With her latest, and hopefully last relocation to Alpharetta, Ms. Irina serves residents by enriching their cultural life. Ms. Irina's teaching style combines the best European academic traditions with her abilities to motivate students, build good student-teacher relationships, inject love of music, and esthetical values in general. Her program for piano is unique and innovative, serious, responsible, and result-oriented. She emphasizes the development of the student's musical abilities through a well-balanced and well thought-out program, which covers Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary music with the following: various piano technique exercises, music theory, ear training, memory skills, sight-reading, piano ensembles, and public performance skills.