Rebekah Trevelise, founder (piano ages 3 - adult, group piano classes, private piano lessons)
Rebekah Trevelise began formal piano instruction at the age of 4, and started teaching piano to students at the age of 15. Upon completing her Bachelor of Music with a concentration in Music Education (piano principal) from University of Texas at San Antonio, Rebekah continued to teach students. She joined the Austin Chamber Music Center in 2010, and performed with many different chamber music groups. In 2013, Contagious Harmony, a professional flute and piano duo, was founded, of which Rebekah was the pianist. Rebekah is currently becoming certified as an Occupational Octaves piano instructor in order to provide piano instruction to students with special needs of all ages. Rebekah also recently became a licensed KiddyKeys instructor and is currently expanding KiddyKeys class options for local preschools in Austin.
~teaching style: low to moderate pressure, moderate intensity and structure, specializes in intermediate through advanced piano students, piano classes
Robbie LaBanca (private voice lesson, group voice)
Robbie is a vocalist and composer based in Austin, Texas. As a vocalist he performs with Panoramic Voices, Texas Early Music Project, Chorus Austin, La Follia, Texas Bach Festival, Victoria Bach Festival, Austin Opera and the Grammy award winning Conspirare under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson. He is also Managing Director and Co-Founder of Inversion Ensemble a choral collective made up of composers and singers formed to give voice to innovative choral works and to encourage the creation of new music. As a composer he has had works premiered by Chorus Austin, Inversion Ensemble, Austin Cantorum and renowned soloist including Laura-Mercado Wright, Kelly Rhodes, Thann Scoggin and Steven Soph.
~teaching style: Moderate intensity, provides customized instruction based on student’s learning style, open to all musical styles
Alison Hall (private violin lessons, group violin lessons)
Alison enjoys helping students of all ages to learn to play, and to improve their skills on the violin. Whether she is teaching or performing, she loves opportunities to grow as a musician and to connect with people through music. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in music education with a concentration in violin. While attending North Texas, she taught small group lessons through the university’s String Project program, and also taught private lessons to elementary, middle, and high school students. After graduation, she worked for three years as a middle school assistant orchestra director in Garland ISD.
~teaching style: loves to find material that motivates the student and helps to build strong fundamentals.
Benjamin Dia (private piano lessons)
Benjamin Dia is a pianist, arranger and conductor. He made his debut as a collaborative pianist with the principal players of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra at the Asian Composers League Festival in the Cultural Center of the Philiippines, premiering new works by emerging Asian composers. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of the Philippines, he went to the United States to pursue his graduate studies at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Since then he has performed in music festivals and in venues such as The Asia Society of New York, Merkin Concert Hall, Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Oslo Konzerthus and in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
A versatile musician, he has also worked with various orchestras, chamber groups, choruses, opera and theater companies both in the Philippines and the United States. Past collaborations include Ballet Philippines, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Repertory Philippines, Tanghalang Pilipino, San Miguel Master Chorale and Orchestra, Bare Opera, Children's Orchestra Society of New York, Panoramic Voices, ZACH Theater Pre-Professional Company and the rock groups The Invincible Czars and Aegis.
~teaching style: moderate pressure and intensity; focuses on fundamentals and building good performance habits to prevent injury; loves advancing his student's skill level
Adam Nurre (private percussion, drum-set, guitar, and piano lessons)
Percussionist Adam Nurre earned a BM in Music Education with a minor in Performance from Northern Kentucky University, where he was a two-time recipient of the Corbett Scholarship for the Arts in 2010 and 2011. Adam began playing drums at age 7 and soon branched out into all areas of percussion study including orchestral performance, drum set, and hand drumming, and has been performing professionally for nearly 25 years. In addition to percussion, Adam also performs regularly as a bass guitarist and is often commissioned for percussion compositions and arrangement works for winds, strings, and marching bands. A native of Cincinnati Ohio, Adam relocated to Austin in 2012 and quickly became busy working in the local music scene, leading to numerous tours and festival dates throughout the US and Europe. As an educator, Adam has taught private lesson students of all ages and ability levels, and has served as an assistant director and percussion specialist for school band programs in Ohio, Kentucky, and Texas.
~teaching style: low to moderate pressure and intensity; focuses on fundamentals and building good performance habits; enjoys finding methods and materials to match each student's individual interests and learning style.
Hanna Chung (private piano lessons ages 7 - adult)
Pianist Hanna Chung, a native of South Korea, recently completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano at the Butler School of music at the University of Texas where she served as Teaching Assistant. She holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative piano from the Eastman School of Music. She is a recipient of the Ruth and Arno Drucker Scholarship and Mary Elizabeth Sherill Scholarship. Her primary teachers include Anne Epperson, Colette Valentine, and Jean Barr. As a passionate educator, she believes in the value of musical training.
~teaching style: fun and engaging, low to moderate pressure
Sonya Macfarlane (private voice/musical theater lessons, KiddyKeys classes, ages 3 - adult)
A graduate of Texas State University, Sonya has been a student of music and theater for most of her life. She taught music and general education in public elementary schools after earning her music degree, until she became a mother to two daughters, now toddlers. She now teaches KiddyKeys classes across the greater Austin area, as well as private voice and musical theater coaching. When Sonya is not teaching or taking care of her home and little ones, she can be found on the stage, usually in productions at the Palace Theater in Georgetown.
~teaching style: high energy, engaging, bringing out the best in every student
Katrina Saporsantos (piano, voice, children's choir)
A native of the Philippines, Katrina is an operatic soprano and pianist who began her musical studies at the age of 3. Katrina played the piano for many years before discovering that her voice was her primary instrument, and that singing and connecting with people through song gave her so much joy. She earned her Bachelor's of Music in Voice from the University of the Philippines, and her Master's in Music and Professional Studies Certificate in Classical Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. She has earned recognition for her performances and is also a prizewinner of several competitions. While her passion and most of her career is in performing, Katrina also finds much fulfillment teaching private voice and piano lessons, giving master classes and vocal workshops to people of various ages, backgrounds, and musical levels.
~teaching style: exuberant, low to moderate pressure, specializes in voice and piano expression
Rachel Browne (private piano and harp lessons, KiddyKeys classes, theory classes)
Rachel Browne served as the principal harpist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Bolivia in the city of La Paz for 10 years.There, she also taught music theory in Boliva’s National Conservatory and in the NSO’s own Taller de Estudios Orquestales. Her article “Playing the Harp in Bolivia,” was published in the American Harp Journal in 2007, and she was honored with a medal from the Legislative Assembly of Bolivia for her contributions to national culture and education. Rachel began her musical studies as a pianist, giving her first recital at just 4 years of age, and continuing piano studies throughout high school and college.Rachel holds a Masters in Music from The University of Texas at Austin, where she enjoyed performing with the San Antonio Opera, the Round Rock Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Salvage Vanguard Theater. Her Bachelor of Music degree is from Ball State University, where she was a Whitinger Scholar (awarded for academic excellence, creativity and leadership) and studied with Professor Elizabeth Richter. While a student, she won first place in the Undergraduate Soloist Competition, giving a recital in Osaka, Japan in 2003 at the Osaka Women's University, and studied a semester of Music and Humanities in Vienna, Austria.Rachel was a first-place winner in the Glenn Miller Scholarship Competition, in the American Harp Society Competition, and received the Alliance for Excellence Award in the Performing Arts. As a teacher, Rachel hopes to inspire musicality, confidence, and heightened mental awareness, since music provides a pathway to all ideas and feelings. In addition to teaching piano lessons, she also leads lessons and master classes every summer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where she is a Faculty member at the Rocky Mountain Springs Harp Program.
~teaching style: low pressure, low to moderate intensity, loves making music theory come to life!
Greg Giacona (private piano lessons, composing/arranging, MIDI and digital audio music production)
Greg has been playing the piano since 5 years of age and pursued extensive classical and jazz piano study throughout his college years culminating in a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music, Piano Performance from Texas Southern University. He holds several professional musician jobs ranging from piano solo to many group types (including his own Austin-based piano/cell duo, Paradiso Piano/Cello), performing in styles from pop to jazz to classical to blues, etc. He also currently does music production services out of his privately owned studio in Bee Cave, and leads worship on Sundays at Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, TX. Greg also teaches private piano lessons to all ages and abilities.
~teaching style: moderate pressure and intensity, specializes in classical and jazz with advanced students, building confidence and developing the musician in their artistry.
Trevor Shaw (private voice, guitar, ukulele, trombone/tube/trumpet, drum set, piano, and composition)
Trevor Shaw is an established composer, conductor and performer. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas music school, where he played trombone in the renowned One O'Clock Jazz Lab Band. Since graduating, Trevor has become heavily involved in the world of choral music. He has led choirs throughout the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland. His choral and instrumental works have also been performed by many church choirs, professional ensembles and collegiate choirs across the U.S., the U.K., South Korea and Australia. He is the principal conductor and co-founder of the Inversion Ensemble, an Austin-based choral group dedicated to performing new works by Texas composers. Trevor is also very active as a private music instructor, a singer and multi-instrumentalist, and maintains a widely-read music blog. He is co-owner and exclusive arranger of the professional a cappella company, Tinsel. His original compositions are published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing and Kagarice Brass Editions.
~teaching style: low to moderate pressure and intensity, provides well-rounded instruction in an engaging manner
Detelina Vuchkova (KiddyKeys classes, private piano and voice lessons ages 3 - adult)
Ms. Lina has been successfully touring Europe for 14 years as a lead singer and piano player since her graduation from Higher Musical Pedagogical Institute. She has been performing on the Scandinavian stages of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, and her native country, Bulgaria. For the last year, she has been teaching children in the early childhood education field in local preschools, and is a proud mom of a 4 year old daughter. Ms. Lina provides fun, engaging KiddyKeys classes to preschools in the Austin area and private piano lessons in the Steiner Ranch area.
~teaching style: low to moderate pressure, fun, patient, and engaging (loves to incorporate theory games when new musical concepts are covered during lessons)
