Eric Bouwman-Wozencraft
   I began piano study at age 8, in the small town of Tehachapi, CA. My first teacher was a wonderful, kind woman, but she did not present student recitals, and I did not practice very well. When she moved away, I started with another teacher who did recitals and the National Guild of Piano Teachers auditions, and my enthusiasm took off. When I was 14, we moved to Oklahoma City, where I studied piano with Helen Ezell. I entered Oklahoma City University as a piano major in 1981, where I studied with Robert Laughlin. I was chosen Outstanding Senior Man of the School of Music, and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance in 1985. 
    As I was completing my music degree, I was drawn to the possibility of serving as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. I came to the Boston area to study at Boston University’s School of Theology. However, while in seminary I began teaching piano and discovered my true calling, combining a love of music with a fascination with how people learn and grow. I earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1991, and have been teaching piano and serving as a church musician ever since. I travel to my students’ homes for their lessons, except during the pandemic restrictions, when I did them all remotely.
    When I began teaching in the Boston area, the chair of the Piano Teachers’ Guild in Boston recommended NEPTA to me. However, I waited until I had one child in high school and the other in college to join, which I did in 2011. I have learned so much from the Speaker Series and the Teachers’ Exchanges over the last decade, and am very grateful. I now serve as Teachers’ Exchange chair and Recording Secretary for NEPTA. 
    I lived in Medfield for nearly 10 years before moving to Medway in 2002, where I still live with my wife Tanya. Nearly all of my students live in Medfield.