Kristen began piano lessons with her mother from age 5, and in 1998 began private lessons with Jo Morrow. During high school she attended the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts Riverfront in the Classical Music program and took private lessons with Sakiko Ohashi, a Juilliard graduate. Kristen participated in various music festivals and competitions, and was the state winner in Level IV for the LMTA Piano Rally in 2004. That same year she was also awarded First Place in Instrumental Music for the Overture to the Cultural Season of New Orleans. Kristen annually attends the New Orleans Piano Institute in conjunction with the New Orleans International Piano Competition. In 2005 Kristen was awarded the Outstanding Freshman of the Year scholarship in the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts at Southeastern Louisiana University. Kristen is currently attending SLU for the undergraduate degree in Piano Performance under the instruction of Dr. Kenneth Boulton. (close)
Mrs. Anne Mary Doss has a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Louisiana State University and a Master's of Music in piano performance from Southeastern Louisiana University. Mrs. Doss taught class piano at Southeastern Louisiana University and is also trained in voice. She enjoys teaching children and adults of all ages. Mrs. Doss participates in a number of local events including piano accompaniment for both children and adult choirs as well as soloists and musical theater productions. (close)
Jo Morrow has earned a Bachelors Degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern State University and a Masters Degree in Piano Pedagogy from Louisiana State University. She has participated in Music Festivals in the United States as well as Eisenstadt, Austria. Jo has taught piano for the past 8 years in the Mandeville area. (close)
Kenya Lawrence Jackson holds a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance from Southeastern Louisiana University and a Masters Degree from Southern Methodist University. In addition to her position as voice instructor for the Music Academy, Kenya serves on the Music Staff at St. Timothy's United Methodist Church in Mandeville, where she supervises the Children's Music Ministry. Mrs. Jackson has studied and performed throughout the country and abroad with programs including OperaWorks in Los Angeles, California and Studio Lirico in Anghiari, Italy. (close)
Justice Buras has a Bachelor of Music Education (Oboe/English Horn and Clarinet focus) from Loyola University of New Orleans. He is continuing graduate studies in oboe and conducting. Mr. Buras has been teaching privately for the past 4 years and is in his second year as Band Director/General Music Teacher at Abita Springs Middle School. He is available to teach oboe, English horn, clarinet, saxophone, flute and small woodwind ensembles (close)
With the help of a partial scholarship, Jennifer Aldana earned her Bachelors degree in Music (Piano Performance) in 2002 from Southeastern Louisiana University. She studied with Dr. David Evenson, Music Department Head of SLU. Awarded a full scholarship and a graduate assistantship, she continued her studies with Dr. Evenson and completed her Masters degree in Music (Piano Performance) from SLU, in 2005. For two years as a graduate assistant, she taught group piano classes to undergraduate music majors. Jennifer began teaching private piano lessons independently at the age of 17, and went on to teach at SLU's Community Music School when she was working on her Bachelors degree. She has served as a piano teacher at the Music Academy from 2005-2007 and again from 2009 to the present. She has taught private, partner and group lessons to children and adults of all levels. In addition to working at the Music Academy, Jennifer also serves as part-time faculty at Delgado community college teaching a Music Appreciation class to undergraduate students, and as a substitute pianist and accompianst for local churches. (close)
Candice Holley has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies from the University of New Orleans and will be completing a Master's of Music from UNO in the spring of 2011. For the past 2 years, she has been teaching piano at the Music Academy and Group Piano for non-music majors at UNO. In addition to teaching piano, Candice has also enjoys teaching ballet at Giacobbe Academy. (close)
Stacie Eirich has earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Music with a Vocal Performance concentration and English from Illinois State University. In addition to teaching voice at Music Academy, she also serves on the music staff at St. Timothy's United Methodist Church in Mandeville. She has performed across the country and in Europe with collegiate concert choirs as well as in musical theater and opera productions. Before moving to Mandeville in 2010, she taught college English and performed with the Greenville Chamber Singers, an auditioned a-capella group which enjoyed annual performances at the Biltmore home in North Carolina. (close)
Miranda Paine-Jesam received a Bachelor of Music Therapy (violin focus) with a minor in psychology from Loyola University New Orleans. She completed her internship at Austin State Hospital, where she provided daily group music therapy sessions to children, adolescents, geriatric, dual diagnosed, long and short term adult clients. She also has experience working with preschool children, adults with dementia, adults and children with Mental Retardation/Autism, and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Miranda is a Board Certified Music Therapist and is currently praciticing in Louisiana. (close)
Danny Abel is a New Orleans guitarist that can be found playing with bands all over the Crescent City. Danny grew up in Jackson, MS and later moved to New Hampshire. The experiences he had in these locations helped him develop a strong sense of blues and jazz at a young age. In 2001 he moved to New Orleans where he studied at the University of New Orleans with great musicians such as Steve Masakowski, Ed Petersen, Brian Seeger, and Hank Mackie, just to name a few. Today Danny can be seen playing regularly with Groovesect, Khris Royal & Dark Matter, Gravity A, the Brian Coogan Band, Pat Casey and the New Sound and many other projects, including often fronting his own jazz/funk ensembles. He has shared the stage with George Porter, Fred Wesley, Leo Nocentelli, Doug Wimbish, and Terrence Higgins, along with countless other music legends. Additionally, Danny has had opportunities to tour with Big Sam's Funky Nation and the Wild Magnolias. His versatility is one of his strongest features and has enabled him to be one of the hardest working guitar players in New Orleans. (close)
Chris Mahlstedt has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies from The University of New Orleans. Chris has been teaching drum lessons for the past 4 years to students of all ages, and is knowledgeable in numerous styles of drumming. In addition to his studies at UNO, he has also studied privately with some of the finest jazz, and rock drummers of the city. He has recorded, performed, and toured in several groups for the past 6 years and is bilingual in Spanish. (close)