Some students may dread practicing their instruments, but music is composer Anne-Marie Hildebrandt’s (’92) passion.

Hildebrandt visited the trebles and womens chorus classes today to introduce herself and perform for the students.

She started piano when she was three-years-old and took music classes at Whitman under the direction of current choral teacher Jeffrey Davidson. After high school, she attended Julliard to become a classical pianist until she decided to change her career path. Now, she composes mainly Irish and Celtic pieces and likes to improvise.

“I decided that classical music wasn’t for me, so I started playing different music,” Hildebrandt said. “I began to play by ear and improvise, and I learned a new way of thinking.”

Although Julliard is a prestigious school for aspiring musicians, Hildebrandt recommends attending a broader liberal arts school for those interested in music.

“My advice is to keep your options open and get a bachelor of arts degree,” she said. “Wherever you go, you want to go for good teachers and a good education.”

After spending time as a student, Hildebrandt has also taught at Julliard and will return to New York City to earn a music degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University.

For her performance, Hildebrandt improvised a piano accompaniment to “Scarborough Fair,” a traditional English ballad the womens chorus has performed.

Junior Maya Cohn said she enjoyed Hildebrandt’s improvisation, which was similar to Simon and Garfunkel’s.

“Her visit gave me so much more respect for piano players,” Cohn said. “I’ve never seen anyone just come up with music like that on the spot, so I was extremely impressed.”

Hildebrandt said she believes that piano and other musical instrument lessons should focus on more than rote skills to instill a lifelong passion for music.

“If you start piano when you’re young, then 30 years later, you’ll probably forget all that you’ve learned,” Hildebrandt said. “Kids should be taught how to improvise because that’ll last.”