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Schools

The Tuneful Dispositions of a Local Music Teacher

A music educator for Torrey Pines Elementary sits down with Patch to talk about her musical past and present.

If you have a student enrolled at , chances are you’re familiar with the subject of this edition of . Ms. Tang, or Becca as she’s known outside of her music classroom, is a born and raised San Diegan who sprung from very musically inclined roots.

“Both of my parents were career musicians in the San Diego Symphony and my grandma was a concert pianist,” said Tang.

She began playing the piano under the instruction of her grandma at the age of 4, and also has early recollections of hanging out backstage during her parents’ symphony rehearsals as a youngster.

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With parents who both played viola and violin professionally and a concert pianist for a grandmother, it’s no wonder Tang has gone on to sing in choirs and at multiple weddings, complete a music degree at UCLA and, currently, teach elementary school music classes in addition to private voice and piano lessons.

Besides its influence on the bustling rhythm of her day-to-day endeavors, here are some other tidbits about how music has woven its way into the life of one, Ms. Tang:

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 Full Name: Rebecca Tang

Occupation: Music teacher at Torrey Pines Elementary School; private voice and piano lesson instructor

In a word, sum up your taste in music: “Vast. It’s really a wide range. I like all different types of music.”

What is your castaway disc (the one CD or album you would take with you to a deserted island)? New Way to be Human, Switchfoot. “I don’t listen to albums as much now with iTunes and everything, but this is one I always go back to.”

Favorite live music performance – artist, venue, year: Blindside at Epicenter in Mira Mesa, 2003. “No one else was available, so I went by myself. I remember thinking it would be weird, but the music was so great it didn’t even matter.”

If you were an instrument, what would it be and why? “A cello, because it’s very mellow and I just love the sound. The cello is closest to the human voice in frequency and it has a very pleasant noise.”

Your guilty music pleasure: “I don’t know if I have any. I’m not ashamed of my music,” Tang says laughing, and then thinking. “Oh wait, I do have one. K-Pop [short for Korean Pop] is something I don’t love admitting I listen to.”

What would your theme song be? Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap. “It sounds very epic to me.”

Name the three artists getting the most airtime on your iPod right now:

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