About Us
Unique Curriculum + Dedicated Educators
For more than 55 years, Baldwin Music Education Center has offered unique, specially designed group music classes for students from ages 6-months on up! The unique curriculum for the preschool classes combines use of a keyboard lab, rhythm instruments, movement and singing to introduce musical concepts through everyday seasonal and childhood experiences. Group Piano classes provide the perfect pedagogical landscape to learn to play the piano while also learning with friends. With the combination of this curriculum and the interaction with a trained staff member, your child will benefit from the lifelong skills developed through music study: concentration, coordination and self-confidence!
Interested in Joining the Team of Educators? Send a letter of interest and resume to: Info@BaldwinMusicEduCenter.com
Rachel Kramer, MM, MA, BM, NCTM, President
Rachel Kramer, NCTM, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in piano performance from Eastern Illinois University and a Master of Music in piano performance and pedagogy from The University of Michigan. She is the President of Music Learning Center, Inc. She is President and Co-founder of the Cincinnati Center for Adult Music Study, Founder of SOS Music Group and CEO of AlivenArts. Rachel has held positions at the Music Teachers National Association, including Director of Member Development, Assistant Executive Director, Director of Education and Member Liaison and was Adjunct Faculty member at Wilmington College.
Rachel held the positions of Associate Director and Accompanist for MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir for 17 years. For 20 years she was the Associate Director at St. John’s Unitarian Universalist Church. She has been the accompanist for the Martin Luther King Coalition Chorale, Wilmington College Chorale, Wilmington College Community Chorus, as well as accompanist for solo performers throughout the Greater Cincinnati Area. From 1990-1996, Kramer served as the Manager of Educational Programs for the Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. Rachel is the 2009 Ohio Independent Music Teacher of the Year. She is a certified MTNA Specialist in Group Piano Teaching and Recreational Music Making. She has published many articles on various topics of teaching and piano pedagogy, has done workshops across the country, adjudicated and has taught group piano to students of all ages for over 25 years from colleges to country clubs – prisons to cruise lines!
Meet More of our Great Team!
Maria Rivers
Maria is an enthusiastic educator from Maysville, Kentucky. Before coming to Cincinnati, she received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Morehead State University and taught grades K-6 at Manchester Elementary School in Manchester, Ohio for two years. Currently, Maria is a graduate assistant in the Division of Music Education at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While at CCM, she has taught elementary methods class, voice class, and introduction to music teaching. In the community, she teaches young students bi-weekly at GLADhouse, an afterschool program for students in grades K-7. Maria loves teaching music to young students and is thrilled to serve the students at Baldwin!
Lori Sams
Lori Sams graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree from Cincinnati Christian University in 2003. Since then she has taught private piano lessons and preschool music classes in Madeira where she resides with her husband and two elementary age boys. While starting a family, she has served as choral accompanist for Moeller High School, Loveland Junior High and High Schools, Madeira Junior High and High Schools and Loveland United Methodist Church. She also enjoys accompanying various soloists for recitals and competitions. Lori is also a certified Musikgarten teacher with an emphasis in preschool ages from birth through 7 years.