Our Story

After years of teaching music to children…

I have seen how classical music helps them grow in many ways — quietly, beautifully, just like story time on Grandma’s lap.

Music Tales from Around the World is my small way of sharing that magic with the children you love.

For decades, I have had the joy of watching children discover music — sometimes with shy curiosity, sometimes with bright, unstoppable excitement. I began teaching in the former Soviet Union, where I grew up, and continued my work here in the United States. The Arborland Montessori School has been the place where I have shared music with hundreds of young students.

I have taught piano, music theory, and general music, but what I treasure most are the small moments: a happy sparkle in the eyes of a sad child, the moment a child realizes they can make a sound on their own, and when an older student suddenly hears the “story” inside an orchestra.

My own three children grew up with music woven into their everyday lives. Two daughters still sit at my piano whenever they visit. My son recently called to ask if I still had his old violin. These simple moments remind me how deeply music stays with us — how it becomes part of who we are.

Music has been the thread running through my life since childhood.

Creating books where the classical musical stories connect sounds, images, and words is my way of passing that thread to the next generation — to the children you love, who will grow up with their own imaginations, their own songs, and their own sense of wonder.

Tonia Gershfeld,

Founder of Music Tales Press

Mother, Grandmother and Music Teacher