At age seven I started playing the piano. Soon I also began improvising and composing. But that wasn't encouraged at the time. I stopped doing it, and only played music composed by others. For many years I was content with that: reading sheet music came easily to me, and there is so much beautiful composed music in the world! That's how I obtained my state exam in classical piano.
Then, somewhere between my twenty-fifth and thirtieth year, something started nagging at me. It no longer satisfied me to only play other people's music. I began to long for my own notes, my own musical story. That longing grew ever stronger. I felt that something inside me wanted to come out. Driven by that desire, I went my own way and started improvising.
Initially it wasn't easy. I was already quite advanced as a classical pianist -- but my improvisations sounded like a beginner's! Still, I wanted to persevere. I gave my students simple improvisation assignments and carried them out together with them. That way I learned alongside my students. I made it a habit to improvise every day, even if just briefly. I played with other improvisation musicians and talked endlessly with them about music and improvisation. This allowed me to learn and discover a great deal.
By now I have been teaching improvisation for more than twenty-five years. I have seen many hundreds of students blossom and become happy upon entering the world of improvisation. The lessons turned out to have a wonderful side effect: the freedom gained through improvising very often carries over into daily life. Every day I see how happy and fulfilled people can become through improvising. I wish you, too, will experience that joy many times over. And I'm happy to help you with that!