Andrew Pokorny, piano

Andrew Pokorny has been teaching music in one way or another since 1999, and he continues to be fascinated by more and more aspects of music and teaching as time goes on. He has deep knowledge and enthusiasm for classical music, jazz, and certain styles of popular music, and he has enjoyed teaching and performing in all of these contexts at various times throughout his career. Among his many goals as a teacher, he strives to help students discover more of the music that inspires them and then really understand that music so that they can do more with it.

Andrew joined the BAMA teaching team in the fall of 2024. He has also been teaching music classes at Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) since 2016, including piano classes and lessons since 2021. He has previously taught music as an adjunct instructor at UNCW and the University of Oregon, and as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon and University of Minnesota. Prior to that, he had a successful career teaching piano lessons to students of all ages in the Minneapolis area. He is currently an active member of the Cape Fear Music Teachers Association (CFMTA).

Originally from Minneapolis, Andrew studied jazz piano at Webster University in St. Louis, classical piano at the University of Minnesota, and music theory at both Minnesota and the University of Oregon, where in 2014 he earned a Ph.D. in music theory with a supporting area in jazz studies. Other facets of his past training and experience include having played keyboards in an R&B group in the Twin Cities for several years, playing drums in jazz and rock bands as a teenager, and playing violin and singing in choirs as a child (and he is grateful that his parents supported these activities). Nowadays, he continues studying classical and jazz piano in his own time, and he regularly performs at CFCC’s music faculty concerts every fall and spring in the Wilson Center.