Meet Your Teachers

  • Cory Hall (D.M.A.)

    Cory teaches classical and ragtime styles to students of all ages and levels and currently has nearly 40 years’ teaching experience. Cory began his musical studies at the age of 6 in his hometown of Davis, California. Cory earned degrees in piano performance from California State University, Sacramento (B.M.), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and the University of Kansas (D.M.A.) as a recipient of the prestigious Graduate Honors Fellowship. In addition, Cory earned a M.M. in musicology (music history) from the University of Kansas concurrently while earning his D.M.A. Cory taught for three years at a community music school near Kassel, Germany, and served for 11 years as an adjunct professor in music and humanities at St. Petersburg College and for 3 years at Eckerd College. As a self-taught church organist, Cory has also served in United Methodist and Lutheran churches and currently serves as pianist for the Saturday evening service at Grace Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, Florida.

  • Marilyn Hall (M.S.)

    Marilyn teaches classical piano to students of all ages and levels and currently has over 30 years’ teaching experience. Marilyn began her musical studies in her native St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of 5 under Eileen Mattioli, who for over 60 years has been a prominent piano teacher in the Tampa Bay area. Also, as a youth and adult she studied clarinet, violin, and cello with various teachers in the Tampa Bay area. Marilyn studied piano and pedagogy at St. Petersburg College and the University of South Florida, and in addition, earned degrees in marketing and psychology. For 17 years Marilyn was a full-time employee of a major fortune 500 company while also teaching piano. From 2013 until the present Marilyn has taught worldwide piano lessons and beginning violin lessons remotely with Cory out of their home in Florida, in addition to currently working as a pharmacy technician at CVS.

Cory with his bestselling flagship publication, Sight-Reading & Harmony.

Cory with his bestselling flagship publication, Sight-Reading & Harmony.

About BachScholar®:

In September 2008, Dr. Cory Hall established the “BachScholar” YouTube channel and uploaded his first videos. In a few years’ time, Cory became renowned the world over for his interpretations of classical and ragtime piano music as well as for his insightful tutorials. Currently, the “BachScholar” YouTube channel features over 1900 videos with a total of over 70 million views. In 2012, Cory established “BachScholar Publishing, LLC” and he began publishing sheet music and learning materials for piano as well as teaching piano remotely to students worldwide. In 2017, Cory established a subscription piano learning site, “The Well-Rounded Pianist.”

Here is Cory performing the very beautiful Nocturne in F# Minor (Op. 48, No. 2) by Chopin.

Here is Marilyn performing the beautiful and popular Nocturne in C# Minor by Chopin.