I was born on the 8th of March, 1983 in Wayne, NJ to parents Nicholas and Dorothea DeLear.  I was the second (and last) of two boys.  My family of four lived in Pompton Lakes, NJ, until we moved to Vernon in the fall of 1985

 

I spent my childhood playing music.  I had my first piano lessons at the age of seven, began playing the saxophone at age eight, and the guitar at age eleven.  By age twelve I had begun composing my own music.

 

When I was 12, my family left Vernon and moved to Pt. Pleasant, where I attended my last couple years of middle school and my four years of high school.  While there, I studied piano under instructor Giovanni Clarizio and guitar/music theory with Jazz guitarist Chris Buono.

 

At age seventeen, I was trained by Mr. Clarizio in the field of private instruction, and he set me up with my first piano students.  I have been working as a private instructor in various piano studios ever since.

 

At age 23, I decided to move north and attend the University of Maine at Orono, where I studied Music Education (under director Beth Wiemann), Piano Performance (under Professor Baycka Voronietzky), and Jazz Studies (under director Karel Lidral).  I graduated from college in the summer of 2010.

 

After graduating, I returned home to New Jersey and took up residence in Highland Lakes.  For the 2010-2011 school year I worked as a substitute teacher in the Vernon Township Schools and as a teacher of Piano at The Piano Workshop at Chester.

 

I am honored and excited to be a part of the Ogdensburg educational team!!!