Our Staff

Music education has been one of the most transformative influences in my life. I began my musical journey on the alto saxophone in middle school band, later exploring guitar and other instruments. Before long, I discovered my true passion: the piano. I started with group piano lessons, and after nearly every class I would stay […]

Lauren Gatzka is a dedicated vocal and piano instructor with over a decade of teaching experience. Throughout her career, she has helped students of all ages build confidence, develop strong technique, and discover a love of music. Known for her patient and supportive approach, Lauren specializes in tailoring lessons to each student’s individual learning style, […]

Trained as a classical violinist since he was five years old, Michael has performed and recorded many styles of music for decades. He has more than 30 years experience teaching private violin and fiddle, including not only private lessons to many students but also workshops, seminars at events, and also Michael has taught strings at charter schools in the Bay Area. […]

Dedrick Weathersby is a powerhouse vocalist, songwriter, and performer with deep roots in musical theater and a gift for helping students unlock their creative voice. An Emmy Award-winning artist and Broadway World/NAACP Award recipient, Dedrick brings over two decades of professional experience on stage and in the studio. His background includes starring roles in national […]

Amanda has many years of experience in choir, musical theater performances, church music, and one-on-one voice lessons. Having a passion for music her entire life, Amanda pursued her B.M. in Vocal Performance & Choral / Vocal Education at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach. After graduation, she continued to […]

Georgia is an experienced and dedicated piano instructor who teaches children and adults from different backgrounds and levels. She also prepares students through Level 1-10 who want to participate in the state Certificate of Merit program. Georgia has studied piano with Adelaide Banasynski, Music Theory, Music Composition at Wisconsin College Conservatory in Milwaukee, and composition […]

Soprano Emily Rae Fealy is a Bay Area local who has been singing since the age of 5. She has participated in youth choirs and semi-professional choirs, where she developed her background in choral and liturgical music. In 2012, while in high school, she attended Diablo Valley College and earned her associate’s degree in Music. […]

Taylor has been doing music her whole life, and was actually very adamant at a young age about it being something she could do for a living, and not just as a hobby. She was part of the Youth Choir at St. Raymond’s Church for six years, and was also a member of her High […]

Michael Solomon is a Conservatory Music (RCM) certified piano instructor with over 15 years of experience teaching and working in the music industry. In addition to beginning, intermediate, and advanced piano students, Michael is a high-level classical guitar instructor. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music at California State University, East Bay in Hayward, […]

Jeremy Greene is a multi-instrumentalist who has been studying and playing music for over 30 years and teaching for over 10. He started on piano in grade school, switched focus to saxophone in middle school, and picked up guitar while playing in bands throughout high school and college. Jeremy started teaching guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, […]

Jake Nunn is a professional musician and is the founder/lead vocalist/guitarist of Hysteria, as well as the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist of the Oakland-based heavy metal band Hell Fire. He has gigged and toured alongside some of the most notable names in the metal genre, such as Death Angel, Jason Newsted (Metallica), Saxon, Exodus, High On […]

Herman has earned a reputation as one of the Bay Area’s premier keyboardist. He is a writer, performer, piano teacher, and an entertainer. He has written many songs in an array of styles that were picked up by acclaimed artists, including Greg Errico of Sly and the Family Stone, Lee Osker from the group War, […]

Eric Dannewitz is a seasoned teacher with over 20 years of teaching experience of woodwind instruments. Performance credits in nearly 100 different theater productions for Bay Area companies such as Berkeley Play House, CCMT, DLOC, and 42nd Street Moon.

Livermore native Bill has over 40 years of experience performing and teaching drums. Bill began studying music with the Livermore schools program where he played in Concert Band, Marching Band, and Jazz band as well as the pit orchestra for Oklahoma and Peter Pan. While still in high school, Bill began playing with rock bands […]

Fredric Zimmerman studied Piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Music Composition at UC Berkeley. Since graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in Music Composition and American History from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in Music Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Fredric has been working professionally throughout the Bay […]

Jeremiah Trujillo is an active collaborative pianist, vocal coach, piano teacher, soloist, and historical musicologist. He holds a Ph.D. in Music from the University of California, Davis. He is the staff collaborative pianist for the Music and Theater Arts departments at Las Positas College. Starting in Fall 2021, he’s been the accompanist for Pacific Edge […]

Gary Allen is an accomplished musician, and a teacher of the acoustic and electric guitar, as well as the ukulele. He is also a published songwriter, and a member of ASCAP, Inc. Gary comes from a very musical family. Both his father and mother played the guitar, and were songwriters. His paternal grandmother was a […]

Kathrine Waters is a performing vocal teacher with extensive experience in small and group instruction in voice and piano, as well as private lessons. She has a bachelor’s degree in music education from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree in music education from the Boston Conservatory. She has taught public school music at […]

Antoine van Dongen, Dutch violinist, pianist and conductor, has been on the faculty of Wellesley College, New England Conservatory, MIT, and the Walnut Hill School of Arts between 2005-2011. Mr. van Dongen had a distinguished career serving as a first violinist with the world famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam from 1989 to 2004 and […]

Michael Ramos has taught guitar since 2000. He attended Monte Vista High School in Danville and received a degree from Harvard College in 2005. He has toured Japan, played at the Monterey Jazz festival, and was twice a member of the Grammy High School Band. Michael studies, performs, and teaches many styles of guitar including […]

Anna Logiman was first introduced to piano at age 5 by her mother, an avid pianist. She continued to learn piano under her mother until she was 10 in which she developed a lifelong passion of music. From age 10 till high school, Anna learned piano exclusively under a Japanese piano master in Jakarta, Indonesia. […]

Lisa Braz has played the piano as long as she can remember and feels blessed for being given piano lessons as a child. Her deep love of music is one of the true joys of her life. She has been teaching students (ages 5-adults ) private and group piano lessons for 14 years. She feels […]

Jacob Lane is a composer, pianist, and teacher who lives in Oakland, California. He is the pianist for the chamber groups Sleight Ensemble and Portato Portato. A member of The Music Teachers’ Association of California, Jacob teaches piano performance and music theory at The Alameda School of Music and New World Music Academy. Jacob holds […]

Kiki Lieow, or Ms. Kiki as her students know her, has over 40 years of teaching experience and has participated in numerous piano teaching workshops and piano pedagogy symposiums. She supports the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), a UK-based program for music students that promotes high standards of excellence in music […]

Pianist and NWMA Artistic Director, MARKUS PAWLIK is best characterized as one of the rare pianists of today who manage to combine sensitivity and expressiveness together with a phenomenal virtuoso technique. Born in Bremen in 1966, his talent was recognized at an early age as he began performing publicly at 7 and was the three-time […]