Marc Parocha

Marc Parocha has more than three years of teaching experience in piano lessons and voice lessons. A native of Chesapeake, Virginia, Marc has now spent most of his life in Gainesville, Florida. He earned a bachelor's degree in music (B.Mus.) from the University of Florida School of Music in Gainesville, Florida in 2017 and has a social psychology certificate granted by Wesleyan University from Middletown, Connecticut in 2021. His undergraduate studies include both piano performance and pre-health sciences. Marc also earned a Master of Arts in Music & Liturgy (M.A.) degree from the Alverno College School of Graduate & Professional Studies based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2024. His goal is to help young children, teens, and adults in learning to better appreciate music and to discover their own musical abilities on the piano and in their voices. He believes that music can be shared by all people regardless of their experience or background.

Mr. Marc has himself studied piano for more than 20 years, and he has competed in several piano competitions and also performed in several recitals and concerts since starting lessons as a child. He has performed in Japan, the Philippines, and the United States. Some of his music awards include the FSMTA Junior II-B Division State Concerto 1st Place Award, the FPM Sonata-Sonatina Festival 2nd Place Award, and the 2013 UF International Piano Festival Solo Competition 1st Place Award, among other various awards. Marc has also been active as a collaborative pianist in other settings, including as a pianist for the St. Francis Catholic High School band from 2009 - 2012, the pianist of the Alba Trio in 2010 - 2011, a pianist for the Kanapaha Middle School band since 2023, and many other piano accompanying activities in the Gainesville community area since then. Marc has studied with pianists including Dea Baba, Rika Unten, Kristina Gifford, Dr. Hee Jung Kang, Dr. Aaron Mathews, Dr. Kevin Orr, Dr. Kevin Sharpe, Dr. Nelita True, Dr. Marian Hahn, and Dr. Alexander Tutonov, among other piano artists and professors. He has also taken more than three years of baritone voice lessons, having studied with many vocal artists including Raymond Castiller, Kimberly Peterson, and Dr. Michael Oriatti. Marc has also studied organ with Dr. Sheri Masiakowski. 

When not teaching piano at Hoggtowne, Marc leads as the accompanist of the Gainesville choir from the Filipino Ministry of the Diocese of St. Augustine at Holy Faith Catholic Church in Gainesville, Florida and actively assists in the church music ministry at Holy Faith Catholic Church. He is native speaker of both English and Filipino, yet he also has limited knowledge of Spanish and Japanese.