Meet our founder: Stephanie Leotsakos
Stephanie as “Triangle Monster” © Elizabeth Honer, 2019.
Hello! My name is Stephanie, and I am so glad that you are here.
Let me introduce myself. I am a very passionate music educator, inventor, composer, conductor, soprano, and violinist. I fundamentally believe in the artistic and creative capacities of every human being. I also deeply respect the spectrum of learning styles that we all have, and consider this beautiful diversity the core and reason for my pedagogical methods. I founded Gnotes™ by Stephanie to create a trusted platform for the sharing of musical and pedagogical resources as well as foster community, creativity, and collaboration in the arts.
I am an open-minded, creative, sensitive, and neurodivergent individual with a unique cultural background. I proudly identify as American, Greek, and Colombian. I hold a M.A. in composition from Rutgers University and a B.A. in composition and theory with minors in vocal performance and K-12 music education from Princeton University. I have college teaching experience teaching music theory, composition, music technology, string lessons, string methods, and directing choral and string ensembles. I will be pursuing my Ph.D. in opera composition and music technology beginning Fall 2024, and was recently named the 2024 winner of the National Opera Association’s prestigious Dominick Argento Fellowship for composition.
After nearly a decade of individualized and group teaching experience in a variety of environments including kindergarten through undergraduate classrooms, as well as in private lessons online and in-person, I have researched and developed an original pedagogical methodology for teaching music literacy, called “The Gnotes™ Method.” The Gnotes™ Method navigates the fundamentals of music theory in a highly interdisciplinary way by integrating current educational research into creative and useful learning materials, focusing on how music is constructed, processed, and internalized. For teachers, the realities of time-constraints, student engagement, learning styles, and content coverage is of the essence in every music classroom at all levels. The Gnotes™ Method addresses these realities in a unique way that actually saves time, keeps students engaged, addresses multiple learning styles, and integrates content learning more seamlessly. The Gnotes™ Method accomplishes all this by demystifying music theory in a fun and practical way. Our wesbite, www.GnotesbyStephanie.com was created to offer teachers, students, and all musically interested persons new ways of engaging with music through accessible original musical resources, works, and merchandise!
To learn more about Stephanie the composer-performer visit www.stephanieleotsakos.com.