Admin Staff
Natalie Galey
Director - Denver, Centennial, and Littleton
Natalie Galey is a multi-instrumentalist musician, educator and arts administrator based in Denver, Colorado. Natalie has been teaching and performing music in various settings since 2008, and has been the Director for Pirisen Music Lessons since July 2019. She has an equal passion for educating and performing, and loves to use her unique skillset to bring music and music education to the community. Natalie has extensive academic and performance credentials and experience, including a dual Master’s degree in Music Education from Columbia University in New York. She has studied and performed with some of the most prestigious and well respected music instructors in the world, including Wynton Marsalis, Peter Eldridge of New York Voices, and Dave Liebman of the Miles Davis Quintet. She has also performed at exclusive venues across the country such as Lincoln Center, Cornelia Street Cafe, Joe’s Pub (NYC), Millennium Park, Schuba’s Tavern, and Navy Pier (Chicago, IL.)
Natalie strives to be a creative and reflective educator, and a supportive and nurturing administrator of the arts. She believes strongly in the power of music to transform lives and build joy, confidence, and human connection in our communities. She is thoroughly dedicated to all Pirisen students; she takes the time to listen carefully to her students and their parents’ needs and strives to bring them the very best personally-tailored music education.
Natalie was raised in a rich musical and artistic environment, playing guitar, piano, singing, and songwriting from an early age. Natalie’s father inspired the beginning of her musical journey and began teaching her multiple instruments at a very young age. Her first love and passion is singing, but she has also been playing piano and guitar since age 3. She specializes in contemporary styles such as jazz, rock, pop, folk, and R&B, but teaches and plays all styles of music. She draws from a wide variety of musical backgrounds and styles, and even studied African drumming in Western Africa during her bachelor’s degree. She is a lifelong student of music, and loves to continue to learn so that she can continue to inspire her teaching and her students. In her free time she loves hiking, bird watching, gardening, and cooking.
Michigan State University - Bachelor of Music Performance, 2009
Manhattan School of Music - Master of Music Performance, 2011
Columbia University Teachers College - Master of Music Education, 2013
Eric Weidman
Deputy Director - Denver, Centennial, and Littleton
Eric Weidman is a drummer and pianist who has over 15 years of experience performing rock, metal, pop, blues and funk. He has graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a Bachelor’s in Music and Audio Engineering, and a minor in Music Business. Over the years, Eric’s passion for teaching drums, piano and occasional production courses has continued to grow, and this passion is reflected in the success of his students. As a teacher, Eric’s mission is not only to help students develop musical excellence and diverse skills, but also to help them emotionally connect to music and become lifelong music lovers. He aims to inspire positive learning and help students think critically and creatively as they develop the skills and appreciation they need to achieve their goals.
In addition to playing and teaching drums and piano, Eric also has a strong passion for songwriting and electronic production. He has been producing EDM music on the side for over 5 years and has had a number of successful songs signed to illustrious labels including Artist Intelligence Agency, better known as EDM.com and has been featured on OneEDM, the #1 EDM news source.