PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – An 87-year-old teacher from Huntingdon has impacted the lives of countless students through music.

Natalie Ozeas has been drawn to music since she was little, when she first picked up the clarinet.

“Today when you pick up an instrument you try all these instruments, when I was in third grade I was given a clarinet and I’ve played it my whole life,” Ozeas said.

She said teaching other people to play was her life’s purpose, and she’s been doing it for decades with children from preschool through college.

“I think the most important part of my music has been that I’ve always shared it,” she said.

Two decades ago, she consolidated a grant and is still director of the Urban Music Education Project. This brings drums and keyboards into classrooms and schools in Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg, as well as trains music teachers how to use them.

“We started with one school and 20 keyboards and now we’re in about 20 different schools,” Ozeas said.

She still keeps in touch with her students and often visits them in New York or wherever they may have ended up.

“Just amazing students that I had at Carnegie Mellon who were in music education, but now they’re all doing all kinds of things,” she explained.

Even in retirement, she still teaches piano and said there’s nothing like seeing a student connect with music.

“Very interesting,” she said. “Totally frustrating at times, once the process is over, you see them enjoying it and so you enjoy it that much more.”

Along with teaching, Natalie said she is excited to continue using her commitment to the grant program throughout the Pittsburgh area, offering the gift of music to various age groups.