PIANO INSTRUCTORS
Amber Kuykendall,
B.A.
Amber Kuykendall was raised in East Mountain, TX. This is where her fascination with music began. It started when her mother would play classical music to encourage her to fall asleep at bedtime. She then pursued her musical interest by starting private piano lessons at the age of eight. Amber continued her musical education in middle school and high school.
Thomas Fedorchik,
B.G.S.
The music of American pianist Thomas Fedorchik is a harmony of human persistence and force of nature. His unique programming explores the transformative power of beauty through inspired improvisations, classical masterworks, and heartfelt originals, executed with grace, passion, and balance in comfortable and immersive settings.
Maria Crystalia,
D.M.A.
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.
Corinne Spacagna,
B.A.
Corinne “Coco” Spacagna graduated in 2018 from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor’s in Interpersonal Communication with a minor in Music. She has performed regularly with various schools, organizations, churches, competitions and private events as a solo and collaborative pianist since 2011.
Andi Tupponce,
B.M.
Andi graduated from Baylor University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Music in Piano Pedagogy. She studied under Dr. Terry Lynn Hudson and Mrs. Jane Abbott-Kirk and recently spent two years in South Korea teaching English to 1st-6th grade students. Andi is currently a member of the Music Teachers National Association.
Hannah Petersen,
B.A.
Hannah Petersen graduated from University of Incarnate Word in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. Although born in Savannah, Georgia, Hannah considers Cibolo, Texas to be her hometown. She began taking piano lessons at eight years old, but she’s always been surrounded by music as her mother is a voice teacher at UIW.
Leslie Suarez,
B.M.
Leslie has been teaching piano for over five years. Originally from Laredo, Texas, Leslie comes highly recommended from several music schools and the academies that she’s taught at. Her love piano started at the age of 8 years old when her grandpa taught her how to play Christmas music. When she attended Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts, her piano teacher, Dr. Carroll, inspired her to pursue the instrument professionally.
Dr. Eric Young,
B.A., Pharm. D
Eric began teaching piano as an undergraduate student at the recommendation of Professor Allen who felt that Eric would be a great teacher. He graduated from UT with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, with a concentration in piano and music theory. Eric held a position as Piano Instructor at the Greater Austin Music Academy where he taught both private lessons and group classes in addition to music theory.
Enrique Rangel,
B.S.
Enrique has a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Minor in Music. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Medicine Degree (M.D.) from the University of Texas Health Science Center. He began his journey with piano at 12 years old when his grandmother gifted his family her upright piano and instantly fell in love with the sounds and possibilities of the instrument and how it captured his imagination.
Sarah Norrie,
B.A.
Sarah Norrie earned her Liberal Arts degree from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. She was born in Florida, near Orlando, where she and her family lived just one minute away from the beach and 10 minutes from the rocket launch site for Space X. As a child, Sarah was always drawn to the piano in her parents’ home, which led her mom to sign her up for her first music lesson at the age of 4, and she has been playing ever since.
VOICE INSTRUCTORS
Sarah Miga, M.M.
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 Jabbar,
B.M.
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.
Tanisha Smith,
B.S.
Tanisha graduated from the University of Mobile with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education in 2013. She was the Founding Member and Director of “So Free” womens a capella ensemble and a member of Chamber Choir, University Singers, and Worship Choir while at the University of Mobile. After graduating, Tanisha studied abroad in Kiefersfelden, Germany at the International Performing Arts Institute for musical theatre.
GUITAR INSTRUCTORS
Jake Ramirez,
M.M.
In 2013, Jake founded Guitar San Antonio, a non-profit arts organization bringing world class award-winning guitarists to perform and teach in various educational institutions and concert venues in the San Antonio area. Furthermore, Guitar San Antonio was founded to provide the diverse population of San Antonio with high quality guitar concerts featuring the world’s best concert artists, as well as to develop and advocate for the inclusion of high quality guitar programs and group guitar classes in the hundreds of elementary, middle and high schools in San Antonio and the surrounding area.
Jacob Vallejo,
B.M.E.
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.
Randy Naranjo,
M.S.
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.
Jonathan Curtis,
M.M.
Jonathan most recently held a position as the Professor of Guitar Studies at Central Texas College in Killeen, TX. He has also previously worked for Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK. Jonathan received a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Oklahoma and a Master of Music degree from Oklahoma City University. He has performed with artists such as the Romero Guitar Quartet in notable concerts in Oklahoma City and in Dallas.
VIOLIN INSTRUCTOR
Isai Trejo, B. A.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Isai was handed a violin by his father at the age of nine and never looked back. Learning by imitating his brother and sketching out songs of his father, Isai independently studied classical, fiddle, pop, Mexican music, and improvisational techniques.
Marta Perrine, B.M.
Marta began violin lessons at the age of five in Southern Maryland. She picked up viola in high school and decided to pursue a music degree shortly after. Marta graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance.
DRUM INSTRUCTORS
Alfredo Velasquez
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.
Sam Bryson, B.M.
Sam Bryson attended the Jacob’s School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies. Sam was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee but raised in Murfreesboro, Tennessee which he considers home.
ADMINISTRATION
Roland Guerrero, B.A.
Executive Director
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.
Korbin Priest, B.A.
Assistant Manager
Korbin was born in Dallas, Texas but grew up overseas until moving to San Antonio for college. Her passion for learning about human behavior is what drove her to pursue her study of psychology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Korbin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2021.
Lilly Schnieders, A.A.
Administrator
Lillian has an Associate degree in Music from San Antonio College (SAC) and is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Multidisciplinary Studies, with a primary focus on education and business. She hopes to open her own tutoring institution one day.
Marissa Garcia
Administrative Assistant
Having come from a very musical family, with a cousin in a famous country band on one side and an uncle who toured throughout the country in a rock band on the other, Marissa grew a love for music when she was a kid.
Abel Alderete, A.A.
Administrative Assistant
Abel is a San Antonio native with 13 years of experience playing piano and have been performing music for over 15 years. He is currently enrolled at the Baptist University of The Americas and am working on a Degree program to achieve a Bachelor’s in Theological Studies.