Bethel, Connecticut-based music educator Harlan Otter has been teaching music since his freshman year in college, when his first-year piano instructor referred him to several beginning students. Soon thereafter, Harlan expanded to teaching voice, percussion, organ, and composition as a full-time vocation. He is deeply thankful that he’s been engaged in such a fulfilling career, fostering student joy, wonder, and exploration in the wide universe of music for 28 years (and counting!).

Collaborative piano and music composition were the focus of Harlan’s formal education. He has obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Arts in Music Composition from San Jose State University in these respective subjects. As long-time liturgical musician, curious creator of soundscapes, and music educator, Harlan has delved into the technical study of a wide variety of instruments and has extensive experience in organ performance, percussion playing, and singing. His professional engagements include keyboard and percussion playing with Cabrillo Stage, the Cabrillo Music Festival, the South Bay Composers’ Collective, and the collegiate music studios of Professors Layna Chianakas and Bruce Moyer; and singing as a bass with the Redwood Chamber Singers and Voice of Silicon Valley. Currently, Harlan serves as music director for New Milford United Methodist Church and previously held the position of Organist with Santa Teresa Hills Presbyterian Church.

When instructing a music pupil of any age, Harlan maintains a positive demeanor while encouraging the student to better themselves in an immediately obtainable manner. A prime roadblock in learning any discipline of music is the frustration about the gradual nature of improvement. Students cannot become Grammy Award-winning musicians in the course of one class, or even several months. But with enough time and devotion, Harlan believes becoming a phenomenal musical artist is possible for anybody. Thus, he aims to steer budding musical learners away from comparing themselves to others, and to instead have them tune in to their own distinctive interests and capabilities. Through this teaching technique, he’s found that pupils establish both technical skill in music and develop well-founded fondness for the subject. In Harlan’s music lessons, his number one priority is to encourage student self-expression and artistic self-realization in a safe, caring environment.