Yamaha Music School teachers are highly qualified musicians that are put through rigorous audition and training requirements before becoming a qualified instructor. Teachers are regularly provided with training throughout their time as a Yamaha instructor and can even add to their qualifications by taking Yamaha’s teacher grades.

Bethany Norman DipABRSM, BMus (Hons)

Coordinator of YMS, Fairfield Halls. Bethany teaches all of the Yamaha keyboard courses and flute lessons.

Bethany Is a pianist, flautist and educator based in Surrey and South London. Having studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a junior, she then went on to continue her studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Having always loved teaching and the joys that came with it, she eagerly jumped at the opportunity to become a Yamaha teacher when Fairfield Halls reopened its doors in 2019. She has continued teaching all of the Yamaha courses on offer at FFH whilst running the school itself and juggling other work as a freelance musician.

Jacqueline Turner Bmus (Hons)

Admin Co-ordinator for YMS. Teaching of Group Vocals Singing Class, Toddler Music and PFK.

Jacqueline is a Classically trained Soprano based in South London. Before graduating from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Jacqueline started teaching 1-1 singing, piano, music theory and music GCSE lessons. Since finishing her undergraduate degree she’s joined the YMS team helping behind the scenes and teaching! Jacqueline continues her classical career alongside teaching, and is in many local Operas, Recitals and Concerts.

Lai Yiu Yeung

Lia Yiu teaches JMC, JSFC and PFK. Lai Yiu is a music educator and credentialed music therapist (USA and Canada).

Specialising in working with paediatrics in the medical settings and children with special educational needs and disabilities. Upon receiving her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Music at the Hong Kong Baptist University, she furthered her studies in the United States of America, completing a Master’s degree in Music Therapy.
Music has always been a huge part of her life. With the belief that music empowers people, she entered the field since 2013 hoping to provide others with the opportunity she had. She is passionate about and so firmly believe in using a holistic, individualised, and evidence-based approach in her work.

Sophie Stevenson

Sophie Stevenson teaches Drums, JMC, JSFC and PFK.

Sophie is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, conductor and educator originally from Burton-on-Trent and based in South Kensington. After studying at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester for 5 years, she is currently continuing her education at the Royal College of Music, specifically in Percussion and Timpani. As a 4 year old, Sophie enrolled on Yamaha’s JMC course and learned all aspects of musicianship using the Yamaha method until the age of 13. They are very passionate in continuing to pass on the Yamaha ethos to the next generation, helping to develop well rounded people and talented musicians.

Deepy Gurung

Guitar Encounters teacher

Deepy is a London-based guitarist, composer, and educator whose musical journey began at the age of 12. In 2022, he earned a first-class degree from the renowned Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. He enjoys playing a diverse range of musical genres, including funk, blues, rock, soul, pop, and metal. Alongside his teaching responsibilities at many local institutions, Deepy regularly performs at numerous venues across London and beyond. His passion for the guitar has been a lifelong pursuit.

Matthew Leung

JMC, JSFC and PFK teacher

The Hong Kong-born pianist, Leung Tsz Lok Matthew has started learning the piano at the age of 7.

Matthew is active at many international competitions and has continually achieved top prizes. Apart from the championships in different categories of Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, such as piano solos and choirs, Matthew won the accompanist prize in the Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition 2019 to name one of many successful accomplishments.

Matthew has had masterclass experiences with famous pianists such as Mary Wu, Jojo Chan. He has a large variety of performance experiences in Hong Kong, South Korea, Fu Shan, Thailand, and UK.

Matthew attained the Bachelor of Music in the Royal College of Music (London) in 2020, and the Master of Music in the Royal College of Music (London) in 2022 with Distinction. He has been working with Yamaha Music School in Croydon as a keyboard teacher since August 2023.