Amber started taking private piano lessons at the age of eight. Amber joined the choir in high school and played clarinet in the band. During this time is when Amber decided to pursue music at a professional level. At Kilgore College, Amber studied under the direction of Dr. William Hayter and Dr. Mary Heiden. She also taught at the college for a year, adding to her existing three years of private teaching experience.

Daniel, born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, developed a passion for music when he began taking piano lessons at the age of 6. After about 8 years of playing and performing on the piano, he decided to pursue music professionally. In 2012, Daniel moved to San Antonio to attend the Baptist University of the Americas where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Music.

A graduate of UTSA in music composition, Mark believed, even as a young child that he could create music.  But not until high school did he take his first steps in that direction. After conquering Rock Band as a drummer, he bought his own cheap drum kit and drove his dad crazy until he got him lessons.  That was all it took. A year later, he had expanded his music to the piano and was teaching himself classical pieces and writing his own songs.

Maria, a native of Medan, Indonesia studied under the direction of James Miltenberger at West Virginia University (WVU) where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. She went on to pursue her graduate degrees and received both a Master of Music in Piano Performance and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from West Virginia University.

Angie has an Associates of Arts in Music and has 6 years of experience teaching piano students privately. Angie truly enjoys teaching children, especially from the ages of 4-10 and believes her fun, interactive casual style of teaching helps younger students engage and develop their own love of music.

Sarah Sirois Miga started singing at the age of 12. She began singing with the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, which gave her the opportunity to perform with the San Antonio Symphony under the direction of Maestro Ken-David Masur, the San Antonio Master Singers under the direction of Dr. John Silantien, and the San Antonio Opera. Sarah graduated with her Master of Music in vocal performance and pedagogy from UTSA in May of 2019. She enjoys working with each student and finding the best ways for them to learn in an enjoyable environment.

Khadijah attended the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance under the direction of Dr. Susan Olson. During her studies, she taught private voice lessons under the supervision of vocal pedagogy instructor John Nix.  She has also taught independently during summer seasons. Khadijah spent time as a camp counselor at the UTSA All-State Choir Camp for the past four years and was a camp counselor and assistant for UTSA’s Lyric Theatre Camp for two years.

Rachel felt a calling to music and decided early in her high school years to pursue music professionally. She attended Baylor University where she studied under Dr. Robert Best and earned a Bachelor of Music in May of 2017. While studying at Baylor, Rachel taught voice to a handful of students privately while concurrently teaching at Tennyson Middle school for three years. Her pursuit of a master’s brought her to San Antonio. Rachel graduated with her Master of Music in vocal performance and pedagogy from the University of Texas San Antonio in May of 2019.

A San Antonio, TX native, Jake Ramirez began his musical journey in 2001 when he received an electric guitar as a gift. Jake currently holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas State University-San Marcos and a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. A dedicated teacher, Jake has taught elementary-level group guitar classes at the UTSA Downtown String Project as well as college-level applied guitar and beginning guitar classes as a Lecturer at UTSA.

In the fall of 2009, Jacob graduated from Palo Alto College with his Associates in Music. Around this time Jacob began sharing his love for the guitar at Kazen Middle school where he served as a guitar instructor. Shortly, thereafter in January 2010, he started teaching at San Antonio Music Academy (SAMA). Alongside teaching, he continued his formal education at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) where he eventually earned his Bachelors in Music Education.

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas Randy started playing guitar at age 14. He attended Del Mar College where he studied with Classical Guitarist Philip Hii, Jazz Guitarists Chester Rupe and Keith Justus. Randy continued his music education at Texas State University under the instruction of Mark Cruz, Morris Nelms and Dr. James Polk. While at Texas State University, Randy had the opportunity to share the stage with great jazz musicians such as Pete Christlieb, Dr. Stephen Hawk and Wes Anderson.

Jeffery Dunn was born in Anchorage, Alaska but grew up in Katy, Texas. While his parents encouraged music and bought him his first guitar at the age of 10, it was his older brother that motivated him to learn. While in high school, Jeffrey became very involved in choir and show productions. It was during this time that he decided he would be a musician. Jeffery went on to study under Dr. Matthew Dunne at the University of Texas San Antonio where he graduated with his Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance.

Tal started learning the violin at the age of six years old and piano at age eight. His interest in music grew rapidly, which led him to teaching during his high school years. He taught in Rochester, MN for four years before moving to Idaho to study at Brigham Young University.

Florian received his Associate of Arts in Teaching, K-12 education from San Antonio College in 2017 under the direction of Beth Johnson. Currently, he is studying string pedagogy under Dr. Stephanie Tepley-Westney at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Florian has five years of teaching experience both with private students of his own and with the Roma Independent School District Orchestras.

Alfredo Velasquez was born in Colorado Springs. At age 4 he moved to Mexico City where he started music lessons with Cesar Tort, a renown teacher in Mexico. He studied music at the National School of Music where he took piano lessons from 7 to 15 years old, at which point he started learning drums. He quickly fell in love with drums and decided to pursue it professionally. Throughout the years he’s continued to study piano and orchestral percussion. In 1990, Alfredo graduated from the Drummers Collective in New York City, a world-class learning center for drum set players and percussionists.

Roland Guerrero began learning music at the young age of nine years old. Roland attended a Catholic school where guitar instruction was offered to give its students an opportunity to participate in the church choir. Throughout middle and high school, he performed in the school bands while taking private guitar lessons. In high school, he was the percussion section leader and played mallet instruments.

Erica Torres has been with San Antonio Music Academy since January 2010. After graduating, Erica studied business administration at St. Maryʼs University and went on to manage the human resource department for Commercial Cleaning Services. Other past experience includes customer service for JP Morgan Chase Bank and insurance sales for USAA.

Kelsey, a San Antonio native, has over five years experience in early childhood development. She gained this opportunity while working as an administrator at an inclusion pre-school and while substitute teaching for children of elementary school age. She has also served as the primary private caregiver for two children under the age of 6, teaching them sound values and practical skills such as reading and writing.

Elizabeth Lopez, a recent transplant to the San Antonio area, was born and raised in Conroe, Texas where she played clarinet throughout her middle school years and in the high school marching band. After high school, she took care of her three little brothers whom she misses like CRAZY! She loves kids so much that she took on a position working for the city in the Parks and Recreation Department, overseeing an after-school program and a summer program with over 100 kids, along with the help of 8 other counselors.