our Teachers

Piano Instructor

Ely Guest

Ecuadorian-American pianist and teacher Ely Guest began her musical studies at the age of 5. Among her teachers have been Dr. Kayla Chon (USA-Korea), Dr. Robert Whalin (USA), Ms. Marine Aroutionian (Armenia), Dr. Washington Garcia (Ecuador-USA), Mr. Alex A. Fabre (Ecuador), Mr. Paul Carrion (Ecuador) and Ms. Bertha Brito (Ecuador-France). Ely’s musical linage ties back to Frederich Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven. Ms. Bertha Brito was a student of famed French professor Monique Dechaussees, who studied with a student of F. Chopin. Dr. Washington Garcia was a student of Dr. Julian Martin who ties back to the line of L.v Beethoven’s students. Ely holds a bachelor in Music Performance from Texas State University-San Marcos (2016). She continues to further her pianistic studies with Dr. Chon. Ely studies voice with Dr. Samantha Wood and violin with Dr. Ruben Balboa III.

Ely is a student of the Alexander Technique since 2015 with Ms. Paula Gruber.  Ely studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, CNM (2003-2011), and completed all the musical levels. She also studied at the Franz Liszt Conservatory (2001-2003) and Mozart Conservatory (1997-1999).   Along with her pianistic studies, Ely studied percussion with Ms. Kari Klier and composition with Mr. Richard Hall. Under his tutelage, her second composition cycle was premiered at the Somos Musicos Concert Series held at the Texas State University (2016).  Ely studied accompanying with Ms. Faith Debow (USA), chamber music with Angela Rouchanian (Armenia) and Andres Torres (Ecuador-Russia), jazz with Mr. Morris Nelms and piano pedagogy with Dr. Kyung-Ae Lee.

Ely’s proudest moments have been: to be part of the faculty at Eastside Music School where she has been teaching piano lessons since the fall of 2017, to represent Texas at The College Music Society in Santa Fe-New Mexico (Fall 2016) with The Texas State Mysterium For New Music Ensemble, to be awarded with the Clara Nelson Music Scholarship (2011-2016), to receive a scholarship to participate in the 2nd Texas State International Piano Festival (2011), to be accepted onto the conducting course with Maestro Alvaro Manzano at the Franz Liszt Conservatory and receive a scholarship for private conducting lessons post-completion of the conducting course (2009-2011), to have performed with the Gamelan Lipi Awan (Indonesian Gamelan Ensemble) and have served as their Vice-President for the cycle of 2016, to be a member of Mu Phi Epsilon Professional Music Fraternity, to be a member of Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity, to be a member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

To me, being a musician means that music has called you. It’s not about yourself anymore. But it’s about the music (about the quality of sounds). It’s an honor to be selected to serve the music and to share it with everyone! My teaching style is, talk less show more! You have to listen profoundly, demonstrate clearly, inspire constantly, and play loose like an octopus! Whether you are a teacher or student you ought to have high attention to detail. You must know your score very well. This means that you need to know: the harmony, the form, the rhythms, the background story. Also, you need to know your technique (scales, arpeggios, and etudes). You have to raise your own bar high… so that you can have good students! (or be a good student). I hope that my students will take away my love for music. I wish that my work ethic and high attention to detail inspires them. It is my wish for them that they keep the confidence and discipline that I have instilled in them. I hope they continue to work on themselves, that they watch their posture, do stretches, and think before playing. Just about everything they need to know about their instrument is described in the book, On Piano Playing by Gyorgy Sandor. I encourage my students to read this book. We hold in-class discussions about each chapter.

I’ve always been inspired by masterclasses and concerts. Beauty and ordinary things made in an extraordinary way inspire me as well! I love miniatures, they always make me smile. I enjoy making working miniatures and miniature cooking videos. I feature them on my other Youtube Channel called Love Music Miniatures and Cooking.