Joan Koenig

Joan Koenig began the piano when she was 5 years old, followed by the flute. The winner of numerous young peoples competitions, she was a featured soloist with the National Symphony Orchestre at the age of 16. She entered the Juilliard School in 1977 then pursued her studies in France with Alain Marion. Enamored with France, wine and foie gras, she moved to Paris definitively in 1984.

She played as a soloist and chamber musician with Alexander Lagoya, Patrice Fontanarosa and Frédérique l’Odéon among others. Passionate about teaching, Joan taught in several Parisian conservatories before deciding to open an “alternative music school.”

The school opened in 1986 with ten students of flute and piano. Quickly joined by Elizabeth Schlesinger, and Margaret Cook, the adventure of the school began. She thanks the stars that she understood very little about business at the beginning of the project, and to have had several “guardian angels” over the years!