MAKE MUSIC | MAKE ART | MAKE FRIENDS
MAKE YOUR HOME A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY
December 7-31, 2025
Join us in December for
daily moments of artful reflection & creative connection
through music-making magic & curiosity on piano
sparked by December music & traditions old & new,
art, poetry, story, culture, love, movies, cozy comfort,
remembering and releasing 2025,
and a little Paris*.
(because we are the Paris Creative Piano Café, after all!)
DECEMBER DAILY MENU
Here is what you will find each day during the Advent season in the Café.
LISTEN
Come together with friends and family to listen to
one selected song or piece of the day.
Not exclusively Classical or Christmas, and not all epically reflective like Einaudi.
(But, okay, yes, there is that one piece by him.)
PLAY
Explore and improvise on the piano with a creative spark
extracted from the daily listening selection.
This may be a melodic or rhythmic idea, a certain chord voicing or progression,
or a piano pattern to play with.
Or all of the above at once!
(no piano experience or theory required,
but by exploring music this way, you will acquire both this month!)
REFLECT
A daily poem, lyric, verse, quote or thought to read, ponder, discuss.
CONNECT
With yourself, your creativity, those you share your home and life with,
and, if you like— connect with us!
This month, you are also invited into the Paris Creative Piano Café Société
(a private community, not a fb group!),
where you will find everything offered each day, and you will also find me
and other creative souls who love making and exploring music and art as well.
Share epiphanies, your latest musical find, or ask a burning music theory question!
You can be social—or as solitary—as you like!
ABOUT ME
Bonjour! I'm Hollie.
The Paris Creative Piano Café is the continuation of my beloved Austin, Texas, independent piano studio (2003-2023 ❤️), and is also the confluence of my lifetime of experiences and experimentation (so far) as a composer, classical and pop pianist, language & music educator, lifelong lover of harmony, coffee, and Paris—and a mom!
This past year, I (softly and sweetly) opened the Paris Creative Piano Café as an online beautiful learning space for music-makers of every age and stage to develop their fluency, understanding, and freedom through creative exploration on piano naturally with time to play, wander and ponder.
In my Austin piano studio for 20 years, on the first weekend of each December, my students prepared and performed their Holiday favorites on piano at the Central Market Café. This became a beautiful and treasured tradition for our families to connect and pause before the season busyness took over. I miss it so!
Similarly, this past year, I've have been thinking of making something special for December in the Paris Creative Piano Café, to pause from our regular "menu" and celebrate this magical season, and to invite others to join with us. Something to help us all remember (especially as parents) that we are meant to daily connect through creativity and not just consumption, with those we love.
That this is, truly, what music and art were made for.
The Artful little Advent is what I've come up with! Hope to see you inside!
*In case you are wondering...I know we aren't following the traditional advent calendar leading up to Christmas morning, but instead this will lead up to the arrival of the new year. It is, however, in the same spirit of quiet and connection that Advent holds that this is being made. Also, this is also an inclusive invitation to all, however you and your family celebrates this season.
Some beautiful words from my thoughtful students and collaborators!
You are going to think I'm crazy but I just wrote a Watlz... based on the directions in the Café.
4 verses.... It's called A Waltz for Roux.
The first song for my Christmas album is penciled out!
I can't tell you how happy I am that I just spent an hour COMPOSING instead of binge watching TV!
Girl, you are a miracle worker!
NATALIE JAGER | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Hollie is an absolute genius with all ages.She has been teaching my children to play piano and compose for 8 years. She understands — deeply pedagogy, technique, theory, child development, art, craft, discipline and fun. Somehow she mixes all these elements together into an experience that draws forth pure magic. She is not just teaching them how to play the piano — she is teaching them how to be musicians, artists, and fully-expressed humans.
CHELSEA SMOCK | AUSTIN, TEXAS
HOLLIE IS THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST SOUL AND TAUGHT me
a whole new way of looking at music and BROUGHT music joy BACK TO ME.
KIRA HANGER | BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA
Questions?
If you have questions or want to chat about if this might be a fit for you this season, or if the price is too high for your current obligations,
I'm just right here, and would love to hear from you!
I'm at: [email protected]
