My name is Juraj Stanik and it is my pleasure to introduce myself. For eight years I have been teaching piano jazz at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands. I would like to tell you a bit more about this institution where a lot is going on. Besides the Dutch students you also find many students from other countries and it is great to see how they all influence each other. Their presence creates a very lively atmosphere.

The Royal Conservatory offers students a solid musical base to build on. While in the past the institute had the name to be rather conservative, over the years things have become more flexible and the main focus lies in creating one’s own voice in music. It is inherent to playing jazz that one experiments with new materials. It’s a good thing to learn that when I check on students who graduated from The Royal Conservatory, many of them have become quite successful in the music business.

As a teacher I believe in a very personal approach. Learning music to me is not so different from learning a language. When I find strong elements in one's playing I try to develope them. Whenever I find weak spots I try to find a method to work on those in order to raise the playing to a higher level. For me the rhythmical aspects of the music as well as “phrasing” are very important. I am based in the classical and jazz tradition but I also have an open mind towards more modern aspects of jazz music.