Dr. Linda Govel

Dr. Linda Govel earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts from the prestigious Thornton School of Music at The University of Southern California. While at USC, she studied Piano Performance, Music Education, Music Theory, Music History, and Entrepreneurial studies. Dr. Govel graduated with honors and is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Honors Society. She is currently serving as President of the South Bay Branch of the Music Teacher’s Association of California, and has served as Chairman for the Palos Verdes area of the National Piano Guild. She is affiliated with numerous professional organizations and has adjudicated for the Music Teacher’s Association of California, the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Southern California Junior Bach Festival (Complete Works), Armenian Allied Arts Association, and the American College of Musicians (National Piano Guild), just to name a few. Dr. Govel has over thirty years of teaching experience. She draws from her first-hand experiences as an early childhood educator, along with being a mother of two children to guide her in her work. An expert teacher in her field, she specializes in the development of the young pianist. Her preference is to train children as young as age three. Likewise, she specializes in teaching kids with all learning disabilities or disorders. Her program has been successful in teaching autistic children, and creates a very nurturing yet stimulating environment in which they grow musically and become confident and successful in both music and life. Dr. Govel is most proud of the group Arjun and Friends. Arjun and Friends is community volunteer group from the piano studio of Dr. Linda Govel. The group was started by Arjun Koul, a student of Dr. Linda Govel, with the objective of bringing live music to seniors living in the community. Opportunities to listen to live music are limited for seniors, many of whom may not be able to physically go to a concert. Arjun and Friends bring live music to senior living communities and provide an opportunity for the pianists to interact with their audience. Arjun and Friends have performed (13) in-person and (5) virtual concerts at (5) senior living communities with (20) pianists participating in the April 2021 concert. An overview of the activities of the group can be seen at http://www.arjunandfriends.com. A list of past concerts is below: Live Concerts: 2019-20 Feb 19 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Mar 5 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Apr 20 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Jun 17 Belmont Senior Living, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Jul 3 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Jul 14 Sunrise at Palos Verdes, CA Oct 20 The Kensington, Redondo Beach, CA Oct 22 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Nov 24 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Nov 30 Sunrise at Palos Verdes, CA Dec 21 Sunrise at Palos Verdes, CA Dec 23 The Canterbury, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA Feb 29 Harbor Terrace Retirement Community, San Pedro, CA Online Concerts Jun 2020 First Virtual Concert Aug 2020 Second Virtual Concert Nov 2020 Halloween Concert Dec 2020 Holiday Concert April 2021 Spring Concert Reflecting on the selfless acts of these wonderful students, Dr. Govel takes great pride in knowing that, along with being excellent musicians, they are humanitarians. Their efforts make people smile and feel better through music. Her students have won prestigious awards, including Artists of the Future Concerto Competition, Bellflower Concerto Competition, Long Beach Mozart Festival Concerto Competition, Concerto Fest Austria, MTAC Scholarship Auditions, the SCJ Bach Festival, SCJ Bach Regionals, SCJ Bach “Complete Works”, MTAC Panel Honors Competitions, MTAC Certificate of Merit Honors Recitals, MTAC Convention recitals, MTAC Senior Medallion Recitals, Composers Today State Contest, several monetary prizes in the CAPMT District III Sonata/Sonatina Competition, top three winners in the MTNA State Contemporary Music Festival, Duet teams showcased in the CAPMT Southern Festival, numerous trophies at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, including the Young Pianist Concerto Competition, numerous Top Talent ratings in the National Piano Guild Auditions, including Paderewski Medal recipients, National PTA Reflections winners at the school, District and Regional levels, and a flawless success rate with the Advanced Placement Music test. Her students go on to pursue music careers in piano performance or other music related majors at universities across the country. Some of her students have performed and taught in Europe and Canada. She is currently in high demand as a successful piano instructor in Southern California due to her high success rate, team mentality and strong family teaching atmosphere. Since December 2018, Dr. Govel began her journey with Royal Conservatory of Music. In almost three years, she has become Certified Teacher in both Piano Practical and Music Theory from Prep A to Advanced Levels. In November 2020 Dr. Govel received fourteen Teacher Certificates of Recognition for Center Awards, State Awards and Regional Gold Medals. This year, four of her students earned Regional Gold Medals. Her students have had numerous invitations to participate in the California/Hawaii Celebration of Excellence Recitals celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of the RCM Certificate Programs’ top students in the Region. Over the past three years, Dr. Govel has successfully prepared her students for over 100+ RCM exams. Her students achieved: (48) “First Class Honors with Distinction”, (56) “First Class Honors”, & (10) “Honors”. Regarding RCM Practical & Theory exams, her students have a 100% pass rate in both, with the highest scores being 99% for practical & 100% for theory. In 2020, during the emergence of the Covid 19 pandemic, Dr. Govel published an article “Diary of a Piano Teacher during the Covid 19 Era”, with the aim to help fellow teachers continue with lessons. She shared her success’s (and early failures) with the new “Zoom Era”, along with many “Tips” on how to keep students engaged and productive online. She helped the MTAC South Bay branch have “Zoom” monthly general & board meetings, along with theory workshops. Dr. Govel began her early piano studies with Christy (Eberhardt Stewart) Dolan before embarking on her professional career. Later she studied with Nina Skolnik at the University of California, Irvine on scholarship, earning a Bachelor Degree in Music (Piano Performance). She began her graduate studies with Edith Hirshtal (Artist Diploma and student of Leon Fleisher), at California State University, Long Beach to earn a Master Degree in piano performance. The department of Music honored Govel with an Outstanding Keyboard Award for her research and the world; U.S. and L.A. premiere performances of Alban Berg’s Selected Early Piano Pieces. She gave a lecture recital on her findings, and the University newspaper, Inside CSULB, wrote an article about her research and honors followed by doctoral studies at USC with renowned pianist, Bernadene Blaha. While pursuing her doctoral degree at USC, Govel worked as an assistant lecturer in the music department. She taught Fundamentals of Music Theory and Music Appreciation classes in addition to supervising education majors in teaching music in the classrooms. As a result of her effective teaching, the university, in conjunction with the American Language Institute, made a permanent archive of instructional videos of Govel's teaching in order to train future Instructional Teaching Assistants in the art of university level instruction. In addition, Dr. Govel toured locally with the group mUSiC~works, under the guidance of renowned pianist, Dr. Laura Spitzer. Govel was selected to present her research “The Relationship Between Continued Piano Study and Parental Involvement,” at the 2000 Southeastern Music Education Symposium, held at the University of Georgia, in Athens, Georgia. Recently, Dr. Govel lectured for the teachers of the Music Teachers’ Association, Long Beach Branch on the topic of her Dissertation, “An examination of the types of parental involvement among piano student dropouts” (2004). The lecture discussed ways to incorporate her research into her teaching methods and analyzed reasons why students quit piano and offered tips for prevention. As a professional pianist, Dr. Govel performs regularly as a soloist, accompanist, and studio musician. She has performed for Menahem Pressler, Martin Katz, Daniel Pollack and Li Minqiang in master classes and has accompanied such singers as Broadway performer Suzan Hanson (Soprano), Marianna Giordano (Mezzo soprano), Marya Basaraba (Soprano), Elisabeth Howard (Coloratura Soprano), Steven Plummer (Tenor), Christopher Campbell (Tenor), Michelle Sarkezian (Soprano), Cynthia Snyder (Soprano), Norbert Gleissner (Bass Baritone), and legendary soprano, Carol Neblett. In addition, Dr. Govel has performed for Grammy Award winner Michael Kamen, the Kawai America Corporation, Dennis Castellano, and bassist Mike Watt, in countless venues. Besides teaching, Dr. Govel is an avid tennis player and competes regularly for the United States Tennis Association. Dr. Govel is a native of Los Angeles, and currently resides with her husband and two children in Rolling Hills Estates, California.