Music Teachers

Hsuan Wen Lin (Karen) is a native of Taiwan and attained her doctoral degree in performance at the University of Minnesota. She is also a registered Suzuki teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Lin has frequently been invited to perform in professional orchestras and local concerts. Her performance, Schulhoff’s Duo for Violin and Cello, was featured in World Journal in 2012. The Minnesota Daily also covered and published her solo recital on, Schuller’s Duologue.

Her recent solo performances include the Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in 2015 and the premiere recital for the 50 States Project “Amerigo” in 2016. As a devoted educator, Lin successfully coached students into becoming concertmasters in school orchestras, becoming active performers in summer music festivals, and getting accepted by audition-required events.

Jennifer Chancellor has studied the flute for over thirty years. Love of music, professional training from well-renowned instructors, and gifted abilities are the reason behind Jennifer’s passion for teaching and playing music. During her tenure playing as a student, and professional in weddings, funerals, community orchestras, and ensembles, Mrs. Chancellor has acquired a solid understanding of both the theoretical and practical applications of music. Technical abilities such as breath control, finger technique, tone, and intonation are critical foundational skills a good flautist should master.

As a teacher, Mrs. Chancellor requires each student to learn while recognizing individual strengths, weaknesses, and individual ways of learning new concepts. James Galway says it best:”You can never be too prepared for anything.” Practice is encouraged and inspected.

Justin Sheppard was born in the small south Georgia town of Tifton. Showing an aptitude in music throughout middle and high school, he played jazz trombone, concert tuba, and marched the baritone horn. His early love for music allowed him to perform and travel with the local college while in high school, and he also taught private brass lessons on tuba and baritone to middle school students in the area at the time. Justin attended the University of Georgia from 1997 to 2000 studying music performance and music education, where he also worked in supervising and tutoring kids at a local elementary school. He finished his bachelor of Science degree in Classical Performance from the University of Georgia while studying under international performer and Professor of Guitar, Daniel Bolshoy.

He enlisted in the Navy in 2000, deciding to step away from music for a time, and was educated as an electronics technician and nuclear reactor operator. After being selected for a Navy Officer commissioning program, he completed a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the Florida State University. As an Officer, Justin served in various positions both aboard ship and ashore in San Diego and also completed a second degree in Nuclear Engineering Technologies from Thomas Edison State University. After an honorable discharge from active duty service in 2011, he returned to Georgia to continue education at GA Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He bought his first classical guitar at this time and self-taught himself, working through the Christopher Parkening method books for classical style. After two years studying biology and foreign language, he took the opportunity to move abroad and study in a Masters program in International Business at the Russian Presidential Academy in Moscow, Russian Federation. While in Moscow, Justin taught private English language lessons to both children and adults and also taught group English lessons to businesses desiring English improvement.

In 2015, Justin decided to return to Athens, GA in order to return to his musical roots. He auditioned on classical guitar and was warmly welcomed into the UGA Guitar Studio within the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. He has been teaching private guitar lessons while finishing the Guitar Performance degree at the University and is a current member of the UGA Guitar Ensemble and UGA Choruses. Starting in the Fall of 2017, Justin has looked forward to combine his love of teaching and love of the guitar with students at the Vivo Music and Arts Academy.

His teaching style can be best described as both disciplined and flexible, emphasizing development of a well-rounded musical education within the context of the instrument of the guitar. Development of each student on an individual basis is key, and he commits to the learning styles best for each and every person. Justin instructs each student to learn the skills necessary to play their favorite music, and he also wishes to open students’ eyes to the full range of the guitar’s music, capabilities, and history.

Patricia received her MM in Clarinet Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music Conservatory, which is often ranked 1st in the Nation’s Music Schools. While at IU, Ms. Ewing was 1st chair in the Symphonic orchestra, she won the Concerto Competition, and she received Scholarships. Ms. Ewing Earned her Music Ed. Degree from The University of Georgia. While there she also won scholarships, 1st chairs, and was awarded to Phi Kappa Lambda, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and Graduated Cum Laude. In addition to teaching Ms. Ewing performs freelance, she often teaches master classes and adjudicates for All States and Solo & Ensemble.
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Ms. Ewing teaches beginning students through advanced -high school or adult. Her students participate in District Honor Band, Governor’s Honor’sProgram, All State Band, Metro Atlanta Bands, Orchestras, Jazz Groups, and go on to College Ensembles. In the past, Ms. Ewing taught classroom
music (for 12 years) from pre-k all the way to 12th grade.

Eric received his undergraduate degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Georgia where he studied under Dr. Thomas McCutchen and Dr. Arvin Scott. Mr. Brown went on to study with Dr. Julia Gaines at the University of Missouri-Columbia where he received his masters degree in Percussion Performance. Eric is currently the Associate Director of Percussion at Lambert High School in Suwannee, GA in addition to working closely with the percussion programs at South Forsyth Middle School and West Forsyth High School.

Through his performance career, Mr. Brown has had the privilege of performing in the XXXIV Super Bowl Halftime Show, at Carnegie Hall, as well as internationally in Spain, Italy, and China. Mr. Brown was a marching member of the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps as well as WGI World Class Finalist ensembles Pariah Indoor and Odyssey Percussion Theatre. As an educator, he has worked with Forsyth Central High School, Young Harris College, the University of North Georgia, the University of Georgia, the University of Missouri, Atlanta CV Drum and Bugle Corps, Odyssey Percussion Theatre, Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps, the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, and Gateway Indoor.

Eric is a member of the Percussive Arts Society and proudly endorses Innovative Percussion sticks and mallets and Remo drumheads.

Chan is a certified Yamaha Music School Classical Guitar Teacher. He completed classical guitar teacher's training and seminars with Yamaha chief guitar instructor, Mr. Tadashi Koizumi, from Japan. Prior to Yamaha Music School, Chan studied with various guitar instructors from the Royal College of Music in England. He obtained Grade 8 in both Classical Guitar and Music Theory.

He taught classical guitar full time at a Yamaha Music School for 5 years in Malaysia, his native country. After moving to Atlanta, he continued his passion of teaching finger style guitar part-time during the past 20 years.

Chan owns a Youtube chanel with over 7000 subscribers. www.youtube.com\user\kchan9999

Todd Markey is an orchestral double bass performer in Georgia, frequently heard with the Johns Creek and Carroll Symphony orchestras, as well as the Tango Orchestra Club Atlanta and the contemporary music chamber ensemble Atlanta by Six. He received a master's degree in music performance in double bass from the University of North Texas in 1997 and a bachelor's degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 1995. Todd was on the music faculty at Valdosta State University from 2000 to 2004.

Todd has a wide range of musical skills, including classical and jazz performance as well as composition and music theory. His composition, 4 Basses in 3 Places won the 1997 British and International Bass Forum composition contest. He teaches private lessons on violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, and ukulele and is the creator of the popular string education website StringClub.com. The site features state of the art technology to make learning a string instrument as fun and easy as possible.

Todd has been teaching music for nearly 30 years. His extensive teaching experience includes private lessons, group lessons, college music theory and ear training courses, middle and high school orchestra classes, after school orchestra programs, summer camps, and sectional coaching.

Ms Lu graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy. She is an award winner of bamboo flute and guzheng performer.

Over the years Ms Lu has been actively participating in a variety of television music program recording, large-scale performances and recording work.
She was invited to record the movie "Tiny Times 3" with Zhejiang TV " I love voice" (the tv program series about “The voice of China” ).
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She also worked in the education achievement award and won several outstanding instructor awards.
She began her professional career with THE TMSK Ensemble.
She has taught at the Shanghai Pudong New Area, “the old University”, Best Friend Culture Music School and focus on junior high school orchestra tutor.

The url is a little interview from the Atlantachineselife.com

https://atlanta.americachineselife.com/记青年民乐演奏家路瑶/

Wilson Tong currently teaches in Academe of the Oaks (High School) as orchestra teacher. He serves as Artistic Director of Atlanta Metropolitan Symphony in 2017 Fall. He graduated with Master of orchestral conducting degree in Georgia State University in 2013, served as an assistant conductor, conducted and played violin in Georgia State University Orchestra under maestro Michael Palmer, Artistic Director of the annual Bellingham Festival of Music. He conducted Pleven Philharmonic of Bulgaria in 2012 under Diane Wittry, music director Allentown Symphony Orchestra.
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Born in Hong Kong, China, he began his music journey with violin and piano at eight. He played violin for Georgia Symphony Orchestra for six years and graduated in Kennesaw State University with both music education degree and music performance degree. Tong was KSU concerto competition finalist 2014-2017 and performed in Honor Recital. His studied violin with Dr. Christos Galileas, associate professor of violin in Georgia State, Helen Kim, associate professor of violin in Kennesaw State University, Dr. Edward Eanes, concertmaster of Cobb Symphony. Tong took master classes with Joseph Lin, David Perry, Peter Zazofsky and Maimi strings quartet. He studied conducting in Quartz Mountain Festival 2011, Conductor Institute of South Carolina 2010 and International Academy of Advanced Conducting after Ilia Musin with Leonid Korchmar and Dr. Oleg Proskurnya 2011. He joined Atlanta Variasian acapella since 2009 with CDs recording and youtube channel. He performed violin with Jeffrey Butzer's band MidWives in Atlanta area in 2007. Tong teaches in Johns Creek are a. He teaches violin, viola, cello, guitar and piano. His students performed in Honor Recital, All State Orchestra and got accepted to multiple Universities.

Donna Bailey holds a Master of Music degree in Piano and Music Education. She is a retired Georgia music educator, whose experience includes teaching in Douglas,Cobb and Forsyth counties. Mrs. Bailey began teaching private lessons in 1975. She is trained in various methods of music for young children, with a published music curriculum for young children. Teaching lessons in Forsyth and Dawson counties, she has added voice instruction and vocal audition preparation to her teaching.
Mrs. Bailey is a member of GMTA, NFMC and GMEA. This affords her students performance and festival opportunities. She enjoys teaching students of all ages, and levels, from young beginners to adults.
She also continues to study and perform, serving as accompanist for many school choirs in Forsyth County.

Mr Yao has over 35 years of teaching experience. Upon graduated from Sichuan Conservatory of Music in 1982, Mr Yao worked as principal violinist in Chengdu Symphony Orchestra in China before coming to US in 1991 to pursue higher education in music. He received Master’s in violin performance from University of Georgia.

Some of Mr Yao's achievements include: first place of Louisiana music teacher association violin competition in 1993, principal violinist in Mississippi Symphony for 8 years and concertmaster of Ray Charles orchestra in Memphis.

He played many orchestras throughout the Southern States including:
Principle viola: South Arkansas symphony
Principle viola: Monroe symphony
First violin: Shreveport symphony
First violin: Meridian symphony
First violin: Birmingham Symphony

Steve Freeman has been in the music business for 35 years. Steve studied at Berklee College of Music before making his way to the west coast to attend Musicians Institute. After his graduation, he joined the MI staff and taught there for six years. At MI Steve had the opportunity to play and teach with such artists as Don Mock, Scott Henderson, Steve Trovato, Tommy Tedesco, Joe Diorio, Jeff Berlin and Robben Ford to name a few. While in California Steve was also a studio session guitarist for Japanese radio and television. In 1985 Steve founded the Atlanta Institute of Music, a nationally accredited music school for guitar, bass and drums. As founder and President of the institute he taught and managed an excellent staff and faculty. Read more

In Atlanta Steve, has performed and/or recorded with Oteil and Kofi Burbrige, Jeff Sipe, Dr. Dan Matrazzo, Randy Hoexter, Geoff McBride and others. After AIM Steve taught 70 private students a week of all levels, ages and styles through Greater Atlanta Christian School, Atlanta Music Brokers, Online and his home studio. Steve joined Camp Jam in 2006 and served as Vice President of Operations for 10 years. Currently Steve is Achieve Music’s director of business development and has a passion for telling others about their remarkable educational platform. Steve has authored 4 books, including Jazz Rock and Jazz Pro Lick Series (REH/Hal Leonard Publications), Fusion Guitar (Warner Brothers Publications) and Rock Solid Guitar (Carl Fischer Publications) Steve's latest CD is on Abstract Logix, iTunes and Amazon Some of Steve’s recordings and teaching materials music are available at www.stevefreemanguitarist.com Linkedin Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-freeman-4047/

Ms Huang obtained Bachelor of Arts in Music from Queens College the City University of New York Bachelor of Fine Arts Florida International University. Ms Huang has a great passion for piano teaching and has been teaching for over 15 years. She has invested her time and thought into it. She would like her students to enjoy, understand, and bring the ARTISTRY of music into their life. Judy explains why we need to have a good posture and awareness of how our physical parts work together, why we need to have a flexible wrist to play arpeggios, why we push our elbows out to play big chords, why we use different weight transfer to the hands, why we don't attack notes, why we rock back and forth to play tremolos, why we bring the melody out rather than just make sound through different pitches, and etc. Read more

Piano studying is not only about learning the notations, but also expressions, interpretations, phrasing, structures, tonal relationships, mood, articulations, analysis, and etc. Judy includes some music history in association with the pieces the students are learning to play, along with the theory and structure of it. She would ask her students to find any patterns in the pieces, and any differences between the same or similar passages. She often asks students to tell her what they can find throughout the pieces, based on the knowledge they have and what they have acquired through the lessons. She asks them to listen while playing, while training them to listen at the same time. Therefore, when they make mistakes, they're likely to notice them through listening while playing. She imitates how they play a passage, and how she plays it, and asks them what the differences are, in terms of techniques and artistic interpretation. She explains how the students should practice, and how they can tackle and isolate a problematic area. Most piano teachers would ask their students to practice more and more, yet practicing more does not necessarily translate into a better playing. Judy stresses how to effectively practice, and practice better, not just practice more. Each lesson will be clearly instructed with how to practice for the week. Piano lessons include theory, ear-training, sight-reading, history, technique, performance, interpretation, and artistry. For youngsters, all genres of music are introduced, despite the fact that classical music is concentrated. On the other hand, teenagers and adult students can have their preferences. Ms Huang is an active member in: Music Teacher National Association Georgia Music Teacher Association Gwinnett County Music Teacher Association National Federation Music Club

Angie earned her bachelor degree in music at the university of Maryland. She has a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy. She studied under the teaching of Reynold Reyes and N. Jane Tan (pedagogy). She studied abroad at the St. Petersburg State conservatory of music school by Dmitry and Yelena in Russia. As part of continued dedication for her love of cello, she resume her education with Dr. Dan Shomper. She studied with Katharine Knight who teaches Lamont music school in Colorado, Denver. She’s is very creative in her teaching method. She use both Suzuki and traditional methods. She was also part of Anne Arundel Symphony orchestra where members had the privilege of performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, performance in Australia and Spain. Read more

Angie has taught a wide range of student with physical disabilities, has a strong passions for music and work hard to motivates her students the passion and love of music, whether young and old, tailoring their lessons to meet their needs and goals. She devoted her time to researching piano& cello pedagogy and music education by reding books, articles and attending various workshops. She focuses on keeping her teaching resources updated. She would like to express how to excited she is to have the opportunity to teach your child piano & cello. Her goal is to teach her students in a way that they are enjoying themselves while they are learning. Having taught over more than 10 years, she has found that when students are enjoying the learning process they are most likely to stick with it. She hopes she can succeed in this goal with your child.

John studied classical guitar at the Lovett School of the Performing Arts with teacher Jack Winchester and later with Mary Ackerman, chair of the guitar department at Kennesaw State University. John met his wife in 1982 and began a long career of writing and performing professionally. He has been performing in restaurants and venues throughout the city of Atlanta for 15 years and has been teaching private and group guitar lessons and drum set lessons at the Suwanee Academy of the Arts since 2005.

John offers instruction in both popular and classical styles on acoustic and electric guitar. Taking his lead from the student, John works diligently to find just the right approach to bring out the best in each musician.

Joy Gilmore is a Taiwanese native who was born into a pastor's family. Joy started to play piano at the age of 7 and then started playing for her father's church at the age of 12. She began her piano teaching career at the age of 18 while she was still attending college. Joy received her Bachelor's degree in piano performance and church music in 1987. Upon receiving her Bachelor's degree, Joy moved on to teach at Glad Tidings Bible College Read more

in Taichung, Taiwan from 1987 to 1989 where she was also a certified Carl Orff Pedagogy teacher. In 1994, Joy moved to the United States and continued her piano teaching career in Atlanta, Georgia. To further speak on Joy’s accomplishments, she has actively remained a member of the National Federation Music club where her students have won multiple Artistry awards and received superior ratings since 2006. As of today, Joy has been involved in the piano teaching industry for over 37 years. Joy is an active music composer. She has composed many pieces including piano solos, piano duets, and ensemble pieces. Joy has also rearranged many Hymns and Christmas songs. As an active composer and teacher, she has the ability to easily rearrange music for student's preferred songs at their level. Joy has various piano teaching styles. For very young toddlers, she utilizes her methods called "Musical Zoo" in which zoo animals are used to assist these children in learning piano. For the young beginners, they will focus on the basics to build fundamental skills. Using a plethora of teaching tools, including an iPad, board games and other fun musical activities, Joy is able to help motivate children in learning music theory and music notes. Due to her numerous years of teaching experience, Joy has been able to create unique methods to teach difficult skills such as rhythm counting, finger coordination, sight reading training, and much more. For teen and adult beginners, Joy focuses more on knowledge and physical skills. She has rearranged a series of simplified scales, arpeggios and other technique exercises for them to practice. These exercises have helped many adult and teen students make tremendous progress in their piano playing endeavors. As mentioned prior, Joy can re-arrange a student's favorite song to fit into their skill level so they can enjoy playing their favorite songs, sooner. For the students who want to pursue music as a lifelong career, Joy is a classically trained pianist and can help them pursue their dream of becoming a classical performer.

Nicholas Kohn began studying viola at age 9 in the Atlanta suburbs. At 12, he began studying viola with Thomas Ludwig, a graduate of Juilliard, pupil of Leonard Bernstein, and an active composer. He also auditioned for and was accepted into the Fulton Schools Honors Orchestra, the Beethoven Chamber Orchestra, and the Buckhead Youth Orchestra (conducted by the esteemed Juan Ramirez). At age 14, Nicholas relocated to Abu Dhabi, UAE. He quickly established himself with the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Philip Maier, where he became principal viola. He gained valuable professional experience playing at such venues as the World Economic Forum, the Dubai International Trade Forum Expo, Atlantis, and the Meydan horse racing world cup. Read more

He was accepted in the music program at the prestigious British School Al Khubairat, where he was awarded a sixth form musical scholarship and the Music Prize for Performance in Year 12. He studied privately with the talented Ukrainian violist Andriy Khomyakevych, graduate of the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. In Year 12, Nicholas participated in the Young Musicians of the Gulf competition. He won the composition competition, his quintet won the ensemble prize, and he made it to the finals of the solo performance competition. Nicholas also found time to participate in Barnaby Priest’s Dubai Chamber Orchestra and was the only student admitted to the apprentice program of the UAE National Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Berryman. He also appeared in popular music concerts, serving in the orchestra for such acts as the Jacksons and Mohammed Hamimi, as well as playing Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” under the direction of Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman. During the summers of 2013 and 2014, Nicholas attended masterclasses at Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he was a student of Wilfred Strehle, principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and Antonello Farulli. He also established a friendship with Dora Swartzberg, which led to an invitation for him to visit Vienna for some private tuition designed to help him gain admission to a conservatoire. Nicholas has just finished studying viola performance at the Royal Academy of Music with Garfield Jackson, a member of the legendary Endellion Quartet. Nicholas’ solo appearances include a performance of the viola solo part In Berlioz’s “Harold in Italy,”with the Southgate Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adrian Brown, as well as the Hoffmeister Viola Concerto in D Major with the Hornton Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jack Wong. Nicholas is an avid performer of orchestral repertoire in London. His recent orchestral engagements include being the principal viola of the Hornton Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony at Cadogan Hall and the Principal viola in the inaugural concert of the Elgar Sinfonia at St.John’s Waterloo, conducted by Adrian Brown. Nicholas has also performed in other venues such as St.John Smith’s Square, The Duke’s Hall, The Armani Hotel in Dubai and the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. Nicholas’ passion also lies in conducting, and in 2018-2019, he was the chief conductor of the St. Bartholomew’s Chamber Orchestra, where all profits are donated to the Michael Rakotoariveny Foundation. He also was the founder and conductor of the London Students' Orchestra. Nicholas served in 2018 as the assistant conductor of the Virtuoso Wind Ensemble, led by Derek Holland. Nicholas studies conducting with Adrian Brown, a pupil of Sir Adrian Boult and Herbert Von Karajan as well as Thomas Ludwig, a long-time associate and student of Leonard Bernstein. Nicholas is a passionate teacher, with a speciality in the Suzuki and ABRSM system. Nicholas himself did grade eight on the viola, achieving a distinction with the score 137/150. As a teacher, Nicholas was an assistant teacher at the Music Hub in Abu Dhabi, where he ran two violin duets, as well as teaching several students the ABRSM system, mainly between grades one to five. While in London, Nicholas was also an assistant teacher at the Hap'ning Place while also studying at the Royal Academy of Music. While continuing on with many private violin and viola students, Nicholas ran a fiddle group of eight

Originally from Marietta, GA, Adam Stallings is a clarinet performer and educator in the Atlanta area. Adam is a graduate of Georgia State University, where he earned the Bachelor’s of Music degree in Music Education, graduating cum laude in 2019. At Georgia State, Adam performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra, and performed with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble at the 2018 College Band Directors Association Southeastern Conference. He also frequently performed in a number of chamber ensembles and frequently premieres new music for composers, including the Southeastern premiere of Sila: Breath of the World, by the Pulitzer Prize winning composer, John Luther Adams. As an educator, Adam has experience teaching in a number of different settings. He has taught throughout the Atlanta area, and has taught full ensemble, marching band, or clarinet in Cobb, Gwinnett, and Hall counties. Read more

As a clarinet instructor, his students have done well, often sitting at the top of their school ensembles, and placing well at district level auditions. Adam currently studies clarinet with Dr. Kenneth Long, and has taken additional studies with Dr. Dennis Nygren and Dr. Kristina Jones, former principal clarinet of the Akron Symphony Orchestra.

Mina received her Bachelor’s in Music Performance at Georgia State University, where she was the recipient of a University Assistantship and studied trumpet under Hollie Lifshey of the Atlanta Opera. During her studies, she was principal trumpet of the University Orchestra from 2016-2018 and played in other ensembles such as GSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble, GSU Opera, and student composition recitals. In addition to her studies, she was also a marching member of 2017 Bluecoats, 2015 Blue Knights, and 2013 & 2014 Atlanta CV. Mina also collaborated with local singer-songwriter Manny Cortes, for whom she wrote and played trumpet parts on his P.O.P. EP for songs “Do Ya Wanna Dance Again?” and “Awesome Sword” with the former also having a music video on YouTube.

Kyung Mi Yang is an experienced, educated and encouraging music teacher. She has been teaching for over 25 years: in the classroom as a professor, overseas as a guest lecturer, private lessons instructor and church choir director. She is currently conducting Grapevine Youth and Children’s Choir and Klesis senior adult choir. Ms. Yang holds two master degrees, both in choral conducting. Her bachelor’s degree is in vocal performance. She was accepted for the DMA program at Southwestern Seminary. Ms. Yang’s love for people and love of music intersect at teaching it with heartfelt expertise. She strongly believes that music brings out the best in us; therefore, she pours her affection, passion and skills into the hearts of the students.

Stephen McCool has been teaching private voice and piano lessons since 2010, and holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Vocal Performance from Georgia State University. As part of his personal continuing education program, he has continued to hone his performance skills as both an ensemble musician and soloist by performing with the Atlanta Opera Chorus, Atlanta Master Chorale, Cathedral of St. Philip Schola and Cathedral Choir, and opera companies such as Peach State Opera and Capitol City Opera. As a private music teacher, Mr. McCool has continued to fine-tune his pedagogy skills by preparing students for the prestigious ABRSM exams, National Piano Guild Auditions, NFMC Jr. Festivals, All-State auditions (chorus and jazz piano), and twice-per-year recitals. Read more

Most recently, Mr. McCool is particularly proud to have added applied psychology to his music lessons. Aside from teaching repertoire, technique, ear training, sight-reading, and fundamentals such as scales and arpeggios, he works with his students in a wide variety of areas, including memorization techniques, coping strategies for performance anxiety, organization, and time management. Through his own musical experience as well as his years of helping others, Stephen has come to understand that all of these skills are indispensable for any student who wishes to achieve the greatest possible success in music.

Scott received his Bachelor's degree in classical guitar performance from Georgia State University under the instruction of John Sutherland, a protege of Andres Segovia. Scott then completed a Master of Music degree from Adams State University in Alamosa Colorado. In 1995 Scott founded the guitar department at Gainesville College in Gainesville Georgia and was the Head of Guitar Studies there until 2000. His book on guitar improvisation, "Creating Guitar Solos," is now being sold worldwide on www.lulu.com. Previous collaborations have included performances with members of the Atlanta Symphony and the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. Scott currently maintains a busy schedule as a performer and teacher Read more

in the Atlanta area and is Head of Guitar Studies at Gordon State College. Scott is endorsed by Augustino LoPrinzi Guitars. Scott is also endorsed by and exclusively performs with D'Addario strings. In 2017 Scott released a solo CD "Sacred Music on Solo Guitar". For sound samples visit https://scottplato.hearnow.com Scott also performs in Duo Catanza, www.duocatanza.com

Janet Yao- Piano

Karen Lin- Violin, Piano

Jennifer Chancellor- Flute

Justin Sheppard- Guitar

Patricia Ruth Ewing-Clarinet, Flute and Saxophone

Eric Brown- Percussion, Drum Set

Xiaolei Yu- Piano

Kim Chan- Guitar

Todd Markey- Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Guitar, Ukelele

Yao Lu- Chinese bamboo flute, guzheng

Wilson Tong- Violin, Piano, Guitar, Ukelele, Viola, Cello

Donna Bailey- Piano

David Yao- Violin, Viola

Steve Freeman- Guitar

Judy Huang- Piano

Angie Kim- Piano, Cello

John Hightower- Guitar, drum

Joy Gilmore- Piano

Nicholas Kohn- Violin

Adam Stallings- Clarinet, Saxophone

Jarell Holliman- Percussion

Mina Phan- Trumpet, French Horn

Kyung Mi Yang- Voice, Piano

Stephen McCool- Piano, Voice

Scott Plato- Guitar