Instructors | The Music Village

OUR INSTRUCTORS

Josh is a cellist, symphonic conductor, and arts administrator. He has performed throughout the US and abroad as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Josh can be heard on numerous recordings, is a founding member of the Sylvan Trio and the Gichigami Piano Trio, and has premiered a variety of new works as both conductor and cellist.

Josh is Music Director with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Columbus, Indiana, Director of the Woodland Chamber Music Workshop, and Executive Director of The Music Village.

Josh received a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from the University of Colorado, and completed his undergraduate work at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Oberlin College.

JOSH AERIE

Cello

Austin Carlson, is a drummer and multi-instrumentalist, who has been playing drums for over 20 years. He studied music for 2 years at Southwestern Michigan College, and is currently working on his latest album for his solo project, in which he writes and records all of the music.

Austin Carlson
Drums

Vincenzo has more than 10 years of teaching experience and has been a professional

drummer for almost 30 years. He was the lead drummer for UZIMA! Drum and Dance

for many years, has performed with countless local bands, and is currently the drummer

for a popular cover band called Mr. Z.

Vincenzo Carrasco

Drums

Sean Conlon
Beat Lab & Recording Arts

Sean Conlon is an educator, bassist, DJ, and music producer from Milwaukee, WI. He has lived his passion for music and taught for 3 decades. His music has sold internationaly and been featured on television. As both a bassist and DJ'ing as the Funky Professor he has performed from Seattle to New Orleans with appearances at Seattle's Bumbershoot, Milwaukee's Summerfest, the BurningMan Festival, Chicago's Cabaret Metro, South Bend's Reggae Festival, Venice Beach, the Traverse City Film Festival, Kalamazoo's Black Arts Festival, Three
Oak's Acorn Theater, LangLab, Martha's, Vegetable Buddie's, and Czar's 505.

Sean currently teaches the BeatLab, where students explore the creative world of modern music making with Apple's Garageband. He developed the BeatLab at Nuner and Perley Fine Arts Academies where he worked for over a decade. He also worked as a bass instructor at Hoosier Dad's Music and as a Pro Audio Manager at Guitar Center helping customers with computer recording, DJ rigs, and PA systems. He has taught an African American music history class at Portland Community College and worked at Seattle's Experience Music Project. In addition to the BeatLab he teaches bass lessons, Ableton Live, DJ'ing, GarageBand, and audio production/recording.

Wendelyn has been singing since she was two, and music has always played a huge role in her life. She used music in her early childhood classrooms to teach, comfort, support, and bring more joy to the day. With an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education, over 20 years of experience teaching, and experience presenting music workshops to local childcare facilities, as well as State and University level Early Childhood Conferences, she is always looking for ways to add music to the community.

Wendelyn Daly

Children's Music Specialist

Dave Denlinger

Guitar and Music Theory

Dave is an award-winning graduate of the McNally Smith College of Music. He has over twenty years of guitar instruction experience in a variety of styles including rock, jazz, heavy metal, pop, etc. He has almost thirty years of experience with ensemble playing as a professional in the local area. Additional teaching skills include music transcription and theory.

Kami began her career at the age of five, before she could read, by taking lessons at Gene Van’s Conservatory of Music. Mr. Van believed that the ability to recite the alphabet and count was a solid enough foundation, despite her young age.

During that time, she was a member of the award winning all-accordion orchestra. They have reunited over the years to participate in fundraisers and concerts. Throughout the course of her 50+ year accordion career, she has also competed independently in, and won, many state and national contests.

She has experience teaching children, teenagers, and adults.

Kami Gunnoe

Accordion

Annie Jacobo

Violin

Annie is a student at IUSB pursing a degree in the Bachelor Of Arts, with a focus in violin, studying under violinist Jameson Cooper.

Annie has been playing the violin since the age of 12 and currently plays in the IUSB Philharmonic Orchestra. In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, and being at home with her cat.

Annie says, “I enjoy inspiring others with music and teaching. I look forward to meeting and working with you!”

Jay is a piano faculty member at the School of American Music in Three Oaks Michigan and the Music Institute of Chicago in Evanston, Illinois, in addition to the Music Village. He has studied with Vladimir Leyetchkiss, Darryl Rosenberg, Leena Crothers, and Sara Kohane, among others. He is also trained and certified to teach Suzuki piano.

His other interests include raising 3 dogs, gardening, and landscaping. He was worked with the Peace Corps in Togo, with WorldTeach Kenya through Harvard University, and with Kisumu International School, also in Kenya. He is a graduate of Hampshire College and Boston University, both in Massachusetts.

Jay Kolin
Piano

Don Lerman

South Bend native Don Lerman is a jazz saxophonist who would like to pass on musical knowledge that he has been fortunate to gain to others. He has taught both private lessons (on saxophone and clarinet) and in classrooms at jazz camps (University of Wisconsin Green Bay), and most recently taught lessons at Quinlan and Fabish in Mishawaka. His experience as a professional arranger and performer in groups in both the Washington, DC, and South Bend areas is helpful in his efforts to provide practical and in depth musical information to students.

Saxophone

Pianist Chloe Lee is a dedicated teacher in South Bend, Indiana. She has more than ten years of experience teaching students ranging from young children to adults. A caring, encouraging, and devoted teacher, her students have achieved ABRSM Piano Grade 8 (equivalent of an American Associate degree) and furthered their music studies at tertiary institutions. She is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and its local chapter, South Bend Area Music Teachers Association (SBAMTA).

Chloe studied with renowned pianist Nancy Loo at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where she earned a MA in Music. She has performed as soloist and chamber musician in a wide-ranging repertoire, including Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Gershwin, Tan Dun, William Bolcom, in the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China.

Chloe Li
Piano

Kaitlyn Meyer
Voice

Kaitlyn Meyer is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and has been singing since she was six years old. She is a student at IU South Bend studying to get her B.M. She will graduate in the Fall of 2023 and has studied under Dr. Emanuel Caraman for the last three years.

Kaitlyn is passionate about teaching voice students not only proper voice techniques but also how to find confidence in their voice. She is familiar with many music genres such as classical, musical theater, secular and popular music.

Kaitlyn loves teaching and watching students of any age grow, connect, and find confidence in their music!

Julius Cruse Miller, III is a lyric baritone from Detroit, MI. During the summer of 2015, Mr. Miller took part in the OperaMaya Young Artist program in Mexico and attending the program again in the summer of 2018 on a full scholarship. In the summer of 2016, Mr. Miller performed the role of Count Almaviva in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Interharmony International Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. Mr. Miller has performed as a soloist with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, was a featured soloist at the Detroit Spiritual Festival, played the role of the Father in the South Bend Lyric Opera’s production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s, “Hansel and Gretel” Marullo in “Rigoletto”. Mr. Miller has also music directed a few shows with the United Youth Theatre in South Bend, and is a member of the Gamma Eta chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon International Professional Music Fraternity, Inc.

Julius Miller
Voice

Bruce Morrow

Violin and Viola

Bruce Morrow brings to The Music Village a lifetime of experience teaching and performing on the violin. Bruce was born and raised in South Bend where he began his violin studies at the age of 8. In 1980 he received a Master of Music in Violin Performance from Indiana University – Bloomington where he studied with Franco Gulli and Henryk Kolwalski. After graduating he was appointed concertmaster of the New York Harlem Opera Ensemble orchestra, with whom he toured Europe, performing nearly 200 performances of the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. He then spent four years playing opera in Austria as a member of the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra.

After returning to South Bend, Bruce performed with a number of regional orchestras, maintained a small teaching studio, and eventually found himself managing the String Instrument division of The Woodwind and the Brasswind. For the past seventeen years Bruce worked for the violin workshop of William Harris Lee & Co., while he continued teaching and performing in the South Bend area. Bruce has recently retired from William Harris Lee & Co. to devote all of his time and energy teaching violin and viola.

Buddy offers private, and group class instruction for beginning or advanced electric and upright bass. Playing and teaching lessons for over 20 years, Buddy offers a wealth of “know how” in terms of technique, reading music, playing with others, playing various music styles, and much more.

Dennis "Buddy" Pearson

Guitar, Bass, Double Bass and Ukulele

Jason Richmond
Guitar

Jason Richmond has been playing the guitar and writing music for more than two decades. A proficient autodidact, he has experience teaching students young and old complex subjects, breaking them down and putting them back together again in an understandable way.

He brings a different perspective with his holistic approach to teaching guitar that focuses on the ear as well as the mechanics of playing, getting to the point of learning an instrument: making music.

Rebekah is a classically trained pianist with a passion for teaching. She loves music because it is such a great way to express creativity as well as technicality and skill! Rebekah is thrilled to be teaching at TMV because she wants to share her passion with others and help them achieve their musical goals. Some of Rebekah's favorite composers are Beethoven and Chopin. Outside of piano Rebekah loves to paint and play with her two dogs.

Rebekah Scott

Piano

Michael Snyder

Voice

Lyric tenor Michael Snyder graduated from the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree, with a concentration in vocal performance.

After graduating from CUA, he studied English repertoire, in the United Kingdom, with Robert Tear, Eric Crozier, and Nancy Evans. He sings most everything from Bach to Broadway.

Sam Tucker is a violinist, music producer, and audio engineer from Zionsville, IN. Sam has been playing Violin for over 14 years. He played in the New World Philharmonic Orchestra for 3 years in Indianapolis and has taught violin ever since he graduated high school. Sam went on to study audio engineering as an apprentice at Azmyth School of Music Technology which led him to start producing his own music under the artist name “Mayhue”. Sam has years of experience as a freelance mixing and mastering engineer with knowledge in all sorts of programs like Ableton, FL Studio, Pro-Tools, and much more!

Sam loves helping people learn and create all sorts of music, be it folk or electronic music! He loves to help new violinists gain confidence in themselves as musicians and believes the ultimate goal for learning any instrument is creating your own music!

Sam Tucker

Violin

Melinda is a certified Musik Garten Instructor and Piano instructor.

Melinda Wesolowski

Piano