Meet Mike Springer of Springer Music in Lewisville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Springer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up, my parents tell me that I would crawl up on the piano at the age of four and start picking out pieces my sister was playing. I had a natural ability and began formal piano lessons at the age of six. Throughout my childhood, I started to compose music, continued piano lessons and began to play the saxophone. After high school, I gave up the saxophone and became a piano performance major at the University of North Texas in Denton, where I subsequently completed both my bachelor and master of music degrees in piano performance in 1994.

 One interesting side note:  While at UNT, I became a drummer for the “House on the Hill Band”, and played bass guitar for several musicals.  I certainly would not classify myself as a professional drummer or bassist, but it was certainly a fun part of my life at the time!

I put myself through school through playing gigs on lower Greenville, playing for a church in Garland, and teaching.  During my masters degree studies, I also had a teaching fellowship at UNT to help defray the costs.

Although I’m a classically trained pianist, my father was a jazz pianist, so I developed an interest in both genres. I ended up meeting two other North Texas graduates, and we formed the jazz trio, “The Classic Jazz Trio”. We have been active for years and continue to perform around the DFW area today.

I’ve also been a pianist and/or music director for several local churches in the area during the past 25 years, including Cornerstone United Methodist in Garland, Trietch United Methodist in Flower Mound, and Oak Grove United Methodist in Oak Point. 

With regards to teaching, I began early at the age of 14 when my father passed away. I took on several of his students, and found that I absolutely loved to teach! I taught lessons throughout college, and currently, have a studio at my home with students from all across the DFW metroplex.

My other huge passion is composing. I ended up getting published, have been with Alfred Music Publishing based in Los Angeles now for almost 15 years, and am very happy with my relationship with them.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the grace of God, and my earth-angel, Christy. I’ve been married to this remarkable woman now for 27 years. She’s a professional woodwind player, and teaches private saxophone lessons, in addition to playing gigs as a woodwind doubler for musical theater.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Losing my father at the age of 14 was a huge challenge.  I took on a few of his students, not really knowing or understanding what I should do or how to teach.  I owe so much to several professors in my life, including Dr. Jerry Wallace, Dr. Pamela Paul, Dr. Steven Harlos, and Dr. Fred Kern.  With their help and hard work, I was able to continue to develop my skills and hope that I will continue to develop and become a better teacher, performer and composer until I retire.

As mentioned before, I love to composer, but the road to getting published was anything but easy at first.  I knew after graduating that I wanted to submit some of my works to the major publishers. My compositions were denied by all of the major publishers. Then one day, back in 1998, I found a small company, Myklas Music Press in Colorado. I submitted two of my pieces to them, and they published them. I continued to have my works published with Myklas until one day several of my pieces made it on the Federation of Music Clubs list (which is a big deal in the world of piano). That is when one of my friends who works for another publisher suggested that I contact Hal Leonard (one of the ones who turned me down) to see if I could begin to publish with them. It worked. I was now publishing with two companies at the same time. Alfred Music (another large publisher who initially turned me down) purchased Myklas Music Press and contacted me. They said they were impressed with my work and wished to fly me to California to discuss coming on board with their team. When Hal Leonard learned of this, they contacted me with a similar offer. Suddenly I found myself between the two largest publishers in the world, both of whom had turned me down a few years earlier, and both wishing for me to publish my works with them. I had a difficult decision, but I went with Alfred Publishing, although I still have a good relationship with my friends at Hal Leonard.

Springer Music – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Springer Music is the combined effort of myself and my wife, Christy Springer, We love working in all areas of the music industry, from performing to teaching to composing. We have enjoyed expanding our business for many years, and continue to be very active in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

We are known for quality music instruction, excellence in performing and producing high-quality music compositions and recordings. Our slogan is “Excellence in Performance, Instruction, Production”.

As a teacher, I specialize in multiple areas of music, including classical piano, jazz piano, improvisation, music theory, arranging, and composition. What sets me apart from others is that I’m comfortable teaching very young kids all the way through very advanced students in both classical and jazz genres. I also have a project recording studio here at my house, which allows me to produce very professional level recordings of my students.

As performers, we are in demand around the DFW area for all types of gigs, from classical to jazz to popular styles.  I have also helped write, arrange and perform for local, regional and national radio and television commercials as well as a few documentaries. 

I’m proud that we’ve been successful, independent professional musicians for over 25 years.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I have a former student named Abby Anderson. She moved to Nashville, TN a few years ago, and recently got signed with Black River Entertainment as a singer/songwriter. This summer, she will be touring with Rob Thomas (from the band, Matchbox Twenty). She attributes a great deal of her success to her piano and composition lessons with me. It is a very gratifying feeling indeed!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.springermusic.com www.classicjazztrio.com
• Email: michael@springermusic.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.springer.9406

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