Staff
Monika (“Moni”) Kiraly, director, teacher
Moni grew up in Hungary, where music was a fact of life, one of the basic skills that kids learn and use constantly! just like walking and talking. Moms sing to and with their kids, grandmas often have a significant repertoir of very silly songs, grandpas blare opera arias (Moni’s did, anyway), teachers sing… Everybody sings. They sing for fun, for sorrow, to chase away boredom, or because what else would you do while doing a simple task all by yourself? Moni went to school with a Kodaly curriculum, where all the kids sang, played the recorder and learned at least one other instrument, sang in the choir, played in the children’s orchestra – typically spent over 15 hours a week learning or playing music.
Moni’s passions in life is teaching young children: she is an early childhood educator with training and experience in a range of settings. She holds M.A. degrees in early childhood special education and in linguistics, B.A. in educational psychology and a post-graduate certification in behavior analysis. Moni has trained with occupational therapists and speech/language pathologists. She taught early childhood special education (PPCD) classes as well as small group and individual therapy in California.
Coming to Texas Moni encountered Music Together® for the first time. This is how she remembers it: “I was invited to accompany a tiny little friend to visit a class. It was love at first sight: both my little friend and I had such rolling fun, that it was hard to remember to put on the educator’s glasses and hat and pay attention to the profound music-educational value as well as the pedagogical soundness of the program. My mission was immediately clear: I had to marry my deep musical roots and my education background. More specifically, I very much wanted to teach Music Together, because of its beautiful, varied music and the solid, research based foundation – which says, that music education is supposed to be fun! Two days after my visit(!), in May 2008 I attended the Music Together Teaching Workshop (developed by the Center for Music and Young Children, Princeton, New Jersey). I started my internship and teaching immediately after my successful completion of the workshop. I enjoyed every musical minute I have spent with parents and children and I am planning on a lot more! I am committed to help families go against the digital flow and rediscover active music making in the home, to help parents offer their kids a childhood immersed in music and rhythm.”
Moni lives the good life on a small ranch just outside Austin with her husband, David, who is a professor of linguistics at UT, two kids, Anna (17) and Noah (13), and a lot of farm animals. When not teaching she likes to spend time with her family and friends, play the trumpet in her marching band, row on the lake, fix up old musical instruments, read, and farm to produce sustainable and delicious food for family and friends.
To contact Moni you can email her or call 512-925-2884.
Brandy Yeargan, registrar
Brandy is an Austinite since birth. She now lives in the country, west of Austin, with her husband, Michael and young daughter, Hania. Brandy’s background is in physician assisting. Currently, besides being Whirligig Music’s registrar, her main occupation is being a mom, or a ‘home engineer’. She started Music Together with Hania in the fall of 2010 and was amazed at Hania’s eager reception of both the classes and of using the music and ideas at home. She’d love to see more parents have a similar musical relationship with their children and that is why she decided to join the Whirligig Music team!
If you have questions about classes, registration, payment or general questions about Music Together and Whirligig Music from a parent’s perspective, Brandy is the one to ask! She will also happily help arrange for you to visit a class, or to register for a session!
To contact Brandy email her or call 713-240-5686.
This is what Brandy says about Music Together:
“Music Together gives me an endless number of ‘tricks in the bag’ for the airplane and waiting rooms! Itsy Bitsy spider is only entertaining for so long, but I very quickly gained a repertoire of song, rhythm and movement ideas that entertain my 15 month old daughter that are fun for me, too. When we hit a difficult moment, when she is tired of the grocery store cart or wants to run around the plane, I just start a song or rhythm and often get immediate attention from her. She recognizes the songs and movements from class, so they are familiar to her and divert her interest. I don’t carry toys anymore, and actually look forward to these times that used to be difficult, because I feel confident that I can entertain her myself and have sweet one-on-one moments. It’s been a lifesaver. Other moms watch my ‘magic’ sometimes as their kids get involved. The Music Together class has become a big part of our week, but what we do with it during the rest of the week is the real fun!”
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