Gareth Ross

Hello, my name is Gareth and I am from South Africa. I am a passionate Music and English teacher with 14 years of experience teaching both online and in schools around the world including South Africa, Dubai, South Korea and Thailand. In addition to being a teacher I am also a concert pianist, music producer, songwriter and DJ. I have been taught by multiple world-renowned teachers including Joseph Banowetz, Carmen Piazzini, Joseph Stanford, Tamasz Ungar and Adam Wodnicki.

In 2013 I won the award for Outstanding Artistic Interpretation, the highest honour at the Radolfzell am Bodensee Summer Academy in Germany. In 2011 I performed in Italy and met Carmen Piazzini for the first time at the European Academy of Music and Performing Arts summer school. In 2009 I won second prize and two special prizes at the SAMRO (South African Music Rights Organisation) overseas scholarship competition. In 2008 I won the DJ Roode overseas scholarship for the top newly qualified music teacher in South Africa. In 2006 I won first prize at the Varna Symphonic Workshops concerto competition in Bulgaria which is also where I received masterclasses from excellent piano professors. That same year I won second prize and a special prize at the UNISA (University of South Africa) national scholarship competition, and in 2005 I won the piano category and multiple special prizes at the ABSA National Youth Music Competition in South Africa. 

More recently I have been furthering my music skills in music production, having released my first single in 2021, "I Wish". I am currently working on a number of other tracks and an album which will be released soon. I have also taken to DJing and love creating mixes, working on effects and performing in front of an entirely different audience to classical music. 

I am a gregarious, energetic and optimistic person who likes to infuse my personality and passion in the classroom to create a fun and effective learning environment. You can trust that in my classroom there will never be a dull moment. My lessons are highly interactive, humorous and engaging. The core principles of my teaching philosophy are rooted in a humanising pedagogy with a reconstructionism view focusing on social justice, equality, social change and empowerment. I can't wait to be teaching you soon!