Mary Comtois

She Prays Before Every Lesson — and Her Students Notice the Difference

Mary Comtois has been teaching music for more than 30 years, longer than many of her current students have been alive. Based in Ocklawaha, FL, she offers both in-person and online lessons covering an unusually wide range of instruments — from piano and voice to oboe, French horn, baritone saxophone, and ukulele in multiple sizes. Piano is taught at all levels; everything else is taught to beginners through approximately the first two years. Children as young as three are welcome, and adults study with her regularly.

Her academic background is thorough: bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance and music education, K–12 teaching certification for both instrumental and vocal instruction in public and private schools, piano pedagogy certification, and additional training in preschool music education. Most of her professional performance experience was built in New York City, playing alongside classical instrumentalists and opera singers. She also works as a recording artist and as a Christian Music for Wellness educator — a specialty that shapes how she integrates faith, relaxation technique, and musical development in her teaching.

What surfaces consistently across her eight reviews is something harder to credential: the way she individualizes her approach to each student. A saxophonist from Lansdale who had worked with multiple teachers over the years described Mary taking time to understand her personality, learning style, and personal history before weaving those details into the lesson itself. A piano student from Horsham echoed this directly, noting that lessons feel 'personalized to fit my learning style.' One colleague who has known Mary for over two decades put it plainly: she has 'an uncanny ability to help her students learn and improve at every lesson, as well as keep the momentum going long term.'

Beyond technique, multiple students describe benefits that extended outside the lesson room. A piano student from Doylestown wrote that relaxation methods Mary taught for playing had also helped her 'relax as a person,' and that Mary finds a way to make lesson time valuable even when the student arrives underprepared. Another reviewer noted that her two sons, after more than three years of piano study with Mary, went on to participate in school and regional ensembles — something she credited to Mary's guidance and the boys' sustained enjoyment of playing.

Mary also teaches group classes — online and in person — covering subjects like music theory, ear training, music history, composition and improvisation, worship band, young children's music classes, and her Christian Music for Wellness curriculum. Styles she works in include classical, sacred, jazz, and others. For families in the Ocklawaha area or students anywhere with internet access, she represents a rare combination: broad instrumental range, deep formal training, and a teaching style that, by multiple accounts, leaves students playing better and understanding why music matters.

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