Instructor Spotlight: Mari Bryan

1. How long have you been teaching at Garden Street?

A year and a half.

2. What is your favorite thing about the students at Garden Street?

Watching them grow into amazing musicians. It's awesome to see where they start and then, by the end of the year how much they have grown.

3. What initially drew you to singing and playing piano?

My mom is a High School Chorus Teacher, Director of Music at my Childhood church and an amazing pianist! So basically since the time I was born I was surrounded by great music and just wanted to be a part of it.

4. Are you practicing any other instruments?

I have a guitar and know a few chords but really want to work on learning so much more.

5. How do you maintain a busy acting audition schedule with teaching?

This is the hard part. Auditions usually start at 10 am weekdays in NYC, but to sign up, you have to be there by around 8:30 am. So I have to make sure I have my entire day planned out and have to wake up REALLY early-but it's WORTH IT!

6. Where are you from and why did you move to the area?

I am from Palm Beach Gardens, FL which is a city on the East coast of South Florida. I moved to the area with my now husband so that we could pursue our theater performance dreams and to just be involved in the creative culture that lives in Hoboken and NYC.

7. What advice do you have for students for practicing at home?

PRACTICE! Make sure that you are practicing for your lessons at least 3 times a week. If you really commit to this you will see amazing results and grow into an awesome musician. And whenever it gets really hard, circle the stuff you're having trouble with and ask you private teacher for help with it during the next lesson.

8. What would you do if you were not a musician/actor?

I would be a writer. I LOVE to write and was even payed to blog for my University during my senior year.

9. What is one interesting or unexpected fact about you that most students do not know?

I love sports and not only played basketball, and flag football but ran Varsity cross country in high school.