ERICA FEIDNER
The World’s Foremost
Piano and Sales Expert
ERICA FEIDNER
A Pianist, A Piano Teacher, & The Piano Matchmaker
“It is not unusual…to describe her as a force of nature. After meeting her many soon find themselves in the grip of musical ambitions they never knew they harbored.”
James B. Stewart, The New Yorker
A PIANIST
Erica attended The Juilliard School and was the piano soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, among others. She holds a BFA in Piano Performance, two patents on reading music, and an MBA in Marketing.
AN EDUCATOR
Erica loves teaching piano to children and adults alike, from beginners to advanced, both online and in-person, worldwide. Her Patented Class, “EasyPeasyKeys,” teaches how to read music and play in one session.
A SALES ICON
Erica was the subject of a feature story in The New Yorker magazine written by Pulitzer Prize journalist James B. Stewart, and was named one of “10 Greatest Salespeople of All Time” by Inc.com.
What’s PIANO time like?
Transformative…
Erica adores sharing piano time with both children and adults at any level of playing. Piano lessons with her are not only great fun. Students also make remarkable progress at lightning speed. Most importantly, every lesson is filled with joy, excitement, encouragement, and wonder.
Piano classes with Erica incorporate all aspects of conventional musical education, including reading music, piano technique, theory, ear training, improvisation, composition, duets, music history, sight singing, conducting, etc.
She has a natural ability to custom-fit every aspect of her teaching and align it with the way each student thinks. THIS TALENT IS HER “SUPERPOWER!!”
One of Erica’s aspirations for her students is for them to one day be able to sit down and play a piano piece – at SIGHT. A piece they have never learned nor heard before. It’s a skill that eludes many, and one with which Erica as a teacher excels.
If a student lacks interest, that’s ON HER.
Wait – say that again? Yes! Erica takes full responsibility for facilitating the continued interest, enthusiasm, and improvement on the part of her students. She believes wholeheartedly that it is her responsibility as the coach to understand the student, not the other way around. One of her unique talents is to instantaneously discover what exactly the student might not understand. She then reinvents – on the spot – a different way to explain it. In the way that particular student thinks, understands, and speaks.
“EASYPEASYKEYS“
Erica’s Patented All-in-One Piano Class
In 2006, Erica discovered an easy way to read music in one session. It is so fast and easy that she was granted a patent on it! “EasyPeasyKeys” is Erica’s revolutionary approach to reading music and playing the piano.
THE PIANO MATCHMAKER
A Transformative Client Experience
Erica Feidner is known worldwide as The Piano Matchmaker™ and for good reason. She is quite simply the best in the piano business at bringing together a client and the piano they are meant to own.
With characteristics that can range from shy and subtle to fiery and aggressive, every piano is “born” with its own unique personality. Central to Erica’s belief is that the soul of the piano should mirror the soul of its owner.
If you are looking to purchase a fine piano, be sure to reach out to Erica before going shopping. Buying a piano is a huge investment and it is easy to get it wrong. Allow Erica to guide you through the process. Most often, her fee is paid by the piano dealer. Give her a call today at (203)644-9197 to set up a time to chat.
Piano Matchmaker LLC is the best resource for identifying, locating, and introducing a client to their own exquisite piano. A piano crafted by one of the finest piano makers in the world. A piano they were meant to own and share as part of their legacy.
ABOUT ERICA FEIDNER
When Did Erica Begin Playing and Teaching Piano Lessons?
Erica experienced a unique childhood shaped by music. Growing up in Old Bennington, Vermont with 4 siblings and music-loving parents, Erica lived in a home with 26 pianos.
By age 9, Erica was giving piano lessons.
Having been awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious Juilliard School Pre-College Division as a pre-teen, Erica boarded a bus destined for New York City every Friday. Classes at Juilliard Prep took place all day Saturday. After classes, she made the return 5-hour trip back to Vermont that evening.
Summertimes enriched Erica’s teaching skills as her childhood home turned into a piano camp called Summer Sonatina. 45 children each week from around the world lived with and studied piano with her family of 7 pianists and educators. The piano camp was established in 1969 and continues to be ongoing to this day.
As a teen, Erica performed solo engagements with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Nashua Symphony Orchestra, and Albany Symphony Orchestra, among others. She went on to earn a BFA in Piano Performance from SUNY College at Purchase. There, she studied with Daniel Epstein and later with German Diez. During this time, she also continued teaching piano and refining her pianistic skills.
Buying a fine Piano of her Own
As a sophomore in college, Erica saw a commercial for the “Miss America Scholarship Pageant” on television. She viewed participating as an excellent opportunity to earn a scholarship toward the purchase of a piano of her own.
The award for winning the state title was accompanied by thirty-five hundred dollars. Erica won the state title and was crowned Miss Vermont 1985.
Four months later, she was on stage at the Miss America Scholarship Competition. Performing Liszt’s “Waldesrauschen” in Atlantic City, Erica won the preliminary talent competition. This award brought her an additional three thousand dollars. It was enough so that with some creative borrowing, she was able to purchase a pre-owned Steinway & Sons baby grand.
She set herself up in New York City, where she established a successful full-time piano teaching practice.
To Play or Not to Play the Piano? Erica questions Becoming a Concert Pianist.
Soon thereafter, Erica was in a skiing accident, which resulted in a torn ligament in her left thumb.
It was the first time ever that she could not play the piano.
While painful on many levels, the accident provided Erica time to re-evaluate her commitment to becoming a concert pianist. With the many hours a day required for practicing and total immersion in the world of classical music, Erica sold her piano instructor practice and stopped playing the piano entirely. Her “Miss America piano” stood like a stark monument in her home.
Having retired from the only career path she had ever traveled, Erica enrolled at Baruch College in Manhattan and earned an MBA in Marketing. While attending Baruch, she began to explore her gift for matching a piano to a person. She began selling Bösendorfer pianos part-time at a small dealership in New York City.
Success Selling Pianos at Steinway & Sons, A Precursor to Becoming the Piano Matchmaker.
Following her graduation from CUNY Baruch in 1992, she joined Steinway & Sons in New York City full-time.This is when she really began bringing music into other people’s lives.
From the time she began her tenure at the renowned Flagship Showroom at Steinway Hall located at 109 West 57th Street, Erica demonstrated an extraordinary ability to understand the sound and touch of each of the hundreds of pianos housed there.
Supplementing that understanding was the ability to retain each piano’s unique six-digit identifying serial number.
As a pianist, master piano instructor, and world-class salesperson, Erica has always been able to speak the language of a master musician and also understand the needs of the novice who wants to fulfill a desire to play.
James B. Stewart Pens, “Matchmaker,” for The New Yorker.
“Erica Feidner knows the piano you want.”
Erica’s skills brought her to a level of success that led to unprecedented international coverage in the media spotlight.
Pulitzer Prize writer James B. Stewart purchased a Steinway & Sons Model B from Erica. The experience had enough of an impact on Mr. Stewart that he wrote an 8-page in-depth story about Erica which appeared in The New Yorker in August 2001.
The New Yorker, August 2001
The World of Business
“MATCHMAKER“
Erica, “The Piano Matchmaker,” featured on the cover of Inc. Magazine.
“Sell, Baby, Sell. 10 (Yes, 10!) Sales Tips from those who sell well all the time.”
“10 Greatest Salespeople of All Time”
In 2011, Inc.com named Erica one of “10 GREATEST SALESPEOPLE OF ALL TIME.” She was listed among such illustrious luminaries as Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, Larry Ellison, David Ogilvy, and Mary Kay Ash.
Subsequent media features for the piano and sales expert include:
“CNN Nightly News” with Aaron Brown,
Breakfast with the Arts on A&E,
“The Genuine Article” with Gordon Elliott,
“New Morning” The Hallmark Channel,
“The New Selling of America,” on PBS,
“The 57th Street Story,” on NHK,
“The Art of Sales With Piano Matchmaker Erica Feidner, Morrisette Institute for Entrepreneurship,
“Inside The Mind Of One Of The Top Salespeople of All Time,” with Rami Sethi, “The Relentless” podcast with Slate,
“Future Is Uncertain For Steinway’s Ornate Home For Pianos, The New York Times,
“How To Follow The Greats: Careers of Famous Salespeople,” Salesforce,
“An Interview with Erica Feidner of Steinway & Sons,” Salesperson’ Secret Code,
“Erica Feidner: Piano Matchmaker,” “ilovetheupperwestside.com,”
“Sales God #2: Erica Feidner,” CBS News,
“In-house Experts Are New Luxury Tower Perks,” New York Post,
“Inside Sales,” Inside.com
Establishing Piano Matchmaker LLC
Having enjoyed a long-term, very successful relationship with Steinway & Sons, Erica realized she could continue to assist clients in the selection of virtually any top-tier piano, anywhere in the world. In 2005 she founded “Piano Matchmaker LLC”
In keeping with her “matchmaking” philosophy of pairing each individual with the perfect piano given its respective unique personality, Erica takes great care to live by her professional standards: She frequently visits piano dealerships to get to know as many pianos as she can, to assure each one she makes available for her clients meets her own meticulous standards, and then begins to match them to the people for whom each of the pianos was born.
Read more about this Sales Expert and her Sales Expertise here.
A Joyful Return to Giving Piano Lessons
With both of her children grown and on their own, Erica returned to New York City in 2020. She had the good fortune to find a beautiful place to live on the Upper West Side and experienced a longing to return to teaching piano to children and adults, and to beginners in particular.
So, if you’re looking for piano lessons for children or for adults, please give Erica a call at (203)644-9197, or write to her here. She’s set up for in-person and online piano teaching and, together with helping her piano matchmaking clients, has been super happy ever since.
TO REACH ERICA BY EMAIL, KINDLY SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:
ERICA FEIDNER PIANO STUDIO
Hours
M-F 10AM-8PM
Location
21 West End Ave
New York, NY 10023
Thank you for visiting!