“Cottage for me was a real game changer; I’m not sure if I would be working in the music industry if it hadn’t been for those classes! I always enjoyed it and felt like I was good at it because everything made sense, and like I had known everything all along – such is the genius of Micheál’s teaching. Yet, I left with a musical skill set that has enabled me to perform and teach with ease, and I am so grateful for the comprehensive training I received through the school. I learned from some other fantastic instrumental teachers and was lucky enough to go to a school with a highly esteemed music programme, but it was Cottage that really made everything come together for me. These days, I spend a great deal of my time teaching piano, and I really see the edge that the Cottage-trained kids have. Parents spend a lot of time deciding where to send their child to school, but to me, the choice to enrol in Cottage is more significant. Micheál’s classes were where I learned my craft, made most of my long term friends, and learned how to be myself as a performer- I cannot recommend them highly enough! Micheál is an incredible educator, and I still have frequent revelations as to why he presented certain concepts to our class in a certain way, some 15 years on! We are so lucky to have a world class programme like this in Perth, and no doubt we will continue to see the resultant positive effects in our music community for many years to come.” – Sarah Cranfield

Past Student

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