We’ve had an incredible experience with Emma. Her teaching style is engaging and patient, making each lesson enjoyable. She’ve helped both kids progress so much in a short time. Highly recommended!
- Carol Qiu
Founder of All Hands Piano Academy, Emma Stephenson, is a highly accomplished jazz pianist, songwriter and educator. She studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Bachelor of jazz performance), where she also earned her PhD researching the implementation of healthy piano technique in jazz improvisation.
In 2017, Emma performed her original music at the Sydney Opera House and was awarded the prestigious Freedman Fellowship for Australian jazz musicians under 35. From July 2017 to March 2020, while living in New York City, she recorded her second studio album, I Wrote You a Song, featuring six guest vocalists. During this time, she also performed live piano karaoke and request shows at some of New York’s most iconic piano bars and mentored 40 piano students.
Since returning to Sydney in 2020, Emma has become a mother of two, taught classes at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, founded All Hands Piano Academy, authored Piano Beach: The Piano-Teaching Storybook and released two original singles.
Emma's music is available on all streaming platforms.
I had the privilege to work with Emma Stephenson when she taught at the music school I own in NYC. She is a fantastic teacher and musician who became an instant sensation and gained a full teaching studio in record time. Children and adults alike could not wait to get into her teaching room to start their lessons. My own oldest son truly enjoyed taking jazz focused lessons with Emma, he composed several jazz pieces and was working on some cool advanced stuff. We miss Emma in New York but know you’ll be in good hands. Enjoy your lessons, she is amazing!
- Dmitry Alexeev
Emma is a fantastic piano teacher and I would wholeheartedly recommend her for any age and skill level. My 6 year old son and I both took lessons with her for almost 2 years in NYC in person, and then online for a few months once she moved to Australia. Emma instantly became our family favorite. She is such a warm, talented and wise teacher and musician. My son was just starting to learn the piano and I went back to it after a 25 year hiatus. I was a bit jealous of my own child as I wished my own first piano teacher had been more like her. Emma is playful and loving, yet able to inspire both interest and practice discipline in a very young kid. She is equally brilliant at teaching an adult with solid background but many a bad technique habit. I will forever treasure the confidence she helped me build in my ability to tackle almost any piece. I also particularly appreciated her ability to teach both jazz and classical piano. Having grown up playing classical only, I had always wanted to be able to play jazz, and with Emma's help I got a wonderful head start in jazz harmony and improvisation. We miss her terribly and can assure you that you are in wonderful hands with her by your side at the piano.
- Yevgeniya Levitin
Emma is a great piano teacher teaching my 5 years old son. She split learning contents into small and manageable chunks so it's easy for me to track the progress. On the lessons there are many fun games and all that supports my little son's learning curve very well. You can listen to Emma's album on Spotify so you will know how professional she is.
- Ray Ma
I started taking lessons with Emma about 3 months ago, as a 32 year old complete beginner with no prior knowledge whatsoever, and I could not have hoped for a better teacher! Emma is kind, patient, and understanding, and doesn't seem to mind repeating things over and over again until they finally sink in...! She is incredibly supportive and encouraging, and I have already learnt soooo much. I'm really enjoying learning with her and would strongly recommend her to anyone (adult or child) wanting to learn piano.
- Zena Rose
My two children (13 and 11) have had piano lessons with Emma for the past five years, both face to face and online, and I could not recommend her more highly. She is a wonderfully skilled, generous and engaging teacher and has sustained my children's interest in piano throughout that time. She has a beautifully warm manner with kids, quickly building trust and connection and finding what inspires and motivates them as individual learners. She also challenges her students to continue to improve and expand their skills, and finds meaningful ways of celebrating milestones and achievements in their progress beyond just formal exams. I have always found Emma to be highly professional and a pleasure to communicate with.
- Ruth McCausland
Our son has recently started piano lessons with Emma and we can already see how his skills and musicality have developed even in a short space of time. Emma has recognised his love for Jazz and has known the way to challenge his skills whilst also encouraging and nurturing his enthusiasm. Emma is very professional in her approach to her teaching and our son is loving learning from her!
- Karin Stace