| |
|
 |
 |
 |
INSTRUCTOR BIOS... |
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
About Our Instructors...
We are proud of our team of highly qualified instructors. Most Sound Beach Music instructors either
hold a teaching degree, or are professional musicians with years of experience.
Please click here for information regarding lessons.
Bill Tsantes
Bill has a Master’s Degree in Education from Queens College.
He has studied privately with Tony Mann, Carl Schachter and Richard Rabatin.
Bill teaches guitar and bass as well as violin.
Some of the highlights of his performing experience are: performing Off-Broadway, at Theater Three and at Carnegie Hall. He has also recorded on several CDs.
Bill also toured Europe as the guitar tech for Richie Blackmore
|
Back to the top
|
Brent Miller
Brent is currently working on his Doctorate in Music Composition at SUNY Stony Brook; he received his Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas
City and his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Arkansas.
He has studied privately with Stan Morris and Jackie Lamar for Saxophone and with James Mobberley and Robert Mueller for Composition.
He teaches Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Guitar (beginner),
and Bass Guitar.
Brent has taught since 1994 and is currently teaching at Sound Beach Music since the summer of 2004. He was the
head coordinator and
conductor of the orchestra
and jazz band in
addition to teaching
beginning woodwinds at the Tiffany Performing Arts Center in Kansas City from 2001-2003.
Brent is an
internationally
performed composer, most
notably as a founding
member of the
Collected. He
is a founding member of
the Arkansas Saxophone
Quartet and has played a variety of jazz performances in the Kansas City Area.
He is currently a member
of the band
Trashed on
Fiction.
|
Back to the top
|
Brian Chabza
Brian has been teaching at Sound Beach Music since 1997. He teaches violin, viola, guitar and mandolin.
Brian currently performs with Ants Marching (a Dave Matthews tribute).
He is also the current
resident
violinist/guitarist for Theatre Three, of Port Jefferson, and has been since 2006.
He studied privately with Ron Feinberg (bluegrass), John Blake, Jr. (jazz), Wendy Fogel (classical) and Alan Grubner (jazz.)
Brian began playing professionally at 17-years-old. He has attended workshops and master classes with Mark O’Connor, Claude Williams, Matt Glaser, Darol Anger, Buddy Spicher, Randy Elmore and Catherine Cho.
|
Back to the top
|
Eric M. Gottlieb
Eric teaches drum set, snare and mallet studies. He has been teaching since 2004, and received a Bachelor’s of Music Degree from Five Towns College in 2006.
He has performed in the pit band at the Airport Playhouse, Five Towns Theatre, the Stage Playhouse and also in multiple combo jazz performances. He plays in the national touring group “Trashed on Fiction.”
Eric has studied with Azande Cummings, Jim Carroll and Bryan Carrot. Eric believes in bringing fun to his teaching.
|
Back to the top
|
Esther Kim
Esther received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her Master’s Degree in Music Education at Dowling College. She is currently a public school music teacher.
She has studied privately with Gabe Shufford and has taken Master Classes with Christina Dahl.
Esther began teaching piano at Sound Beach Music in 1999.
|
Back to the top
|
Jennifer Endres
Jennifer teaches piano and has been since 1991. She teaches all levels including
NYSSMA preparation. She attended Suffolk Community College as a performing arts
major (and was accepted into Crane School of Music but did not attend.)
She has always loved performing and enjoys writing her own songs. She has played with
friends in local bands and solo. She has played for private parties, cocktail hours
and church performances. She studied privately with many teachers over the years.
She has been an accompanist for many different local school districts including Miller
Place, Shoreham-Wading River, Sachem and Mount Sinai. She spent several
consecutive summers as the musical director for the Shoreham Youth Theater program.
|
Back to the top
Jessica Bender
Jessica received a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (vocal) from the Crane School of Music. She has also studied privately with Nancy and David Adams, Dr. Eileen Strempel, Catherine Sevigney and Ronald Meixsell.
Jessica teaches voice.
Some of the highlights of her career to date are performing at formal recitals as well as in plays.
Jessica has been teaching since 2000. She loves to teach voice. She finds that her students build confidence and develop self-esteem which is beneficial in all aspects of life, not just in performance.
|
Back to the top
|
Joe Lopez
Joe is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music with a degree in instrumental performance. He also has studied privately with Alan Dawson and Gary Chaffee.
He teaches drums and has been teaching since 1978.
Some of the highlights of his musical experience have been recording, as well as playing in clubs. He has performed in local bands including Milagro, a Latin rock band.
|
Back to the top
|
|
Kevin "Tex" Prothro
Kevin teaches saxophone,
flute, clarinet, and
oboe. He has been teaching since 1975.
He graduated from North Texas University.
Kevin has performed extensively on cruise ships. He studied privately with Alex Stewart, Erik Klein, Dan Higgins, Pete Brewer, Linda Wetherill and Dennis Guillaume.
|
Back to the top
|
Linda Robertson
Linda studied music education for 3 years in college and studied privately with Joseph Mahoney.
She
has been teaching piano
for many years. She has been teaching at Sound Beach Music since 2003.
|
Back to the top
|
Matt Hansen
Matt attended Five Towns College; he has studied the work of Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Django Reinhardt and Miles Davis and therefore has extensive knowledge of jazz theory and harmony.
Matt has studied privately with Paul Goodman and Richard Rabatin.
Matt teaches guitar and bass. He has been teaching since July of 2002.
He performs locally, including playing his own arrangements of Miles Davis on solo guitar. He has an extensive background in blues and jazz and has started studying flamenco.
|
Back to the top
|
Mike Orioles
He has an A.A.S in Music from Suffolk Community College and a B.S. from S.U.N.Y Stony Brook. He has studied privately with Tony Mann, Richard Rabatin for improvisation, blues and jazz guitar and Jerry Willard for classical guitar.
Mike has been teaching guitar and bass since 1987.
He has played in the off-Broadway play “Summer of 69”and has done studio work with such people as Doug Stegmeyer (Billy Joel), Kasum Suitor (Todd Rundgren and Joan Jett), Steve Holly (Elton John). |
Back to the top
|
|
|
Nicole Caglione
Nicole has been teaching violin since 2006.
She has been in many performances throughout the years both solo as well as orchestral. She was a guest violinist with the Stony Brook University Orchestra conducted by Susan E. Deaver for two years. Her last recital was given in Pittsburgh, PA where she studied with Ms. Sherry Kloss at her “Music Program for the Development of Personal Style”, in memory of legendary violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz.
She started studying when she was 10 years old with Steve Rudin at Sound Beach Music. Nicole has studied privately under Rose Marie Johnson, USC and Juilliard graduate and author of the book “Violin Music by Women Composers” for two years as well as with soloist Julia Sakharova at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She has also studied with Sophie Arbuckle and Sherry Kloss, heiress to the Heifetz Tononi violin; she was his teaching associate at USC.
Nicole enjoys teaching all kinds of students from beginners to advanced violin players.
|
Back to the top
|
Paul Goodman
Paul is an eclectic player in various styles, concentrating on jazz, classical, rock and the blues. He began teaching over 40 years ago and has been teaching at Sound Beach Music since 2004
He has studied privately with Tony Mottola and Sal Nicosia.
At one time, he was a member of Jay and the Americans and played backup with the great “girl group”, the Chiffons. Currently he enjoys playing out as often as possible but his main emphasis is on teaching.
|
Back to the top
|
Pete Heywood
Pete began playing drums at the age of 11. He has studied with John Speidel, Tony Sanns and Al Miller. He has had a wide variety of playing experiences since the age of 13 and has recorded with the “Fifth Avenue Band”. He currently has three drum study books in progress as well as several articles published in “Creative Drummer Magazine”.
Pete has been teaching since 1961.
Former students include: Bobby Rondenelli of Black Sabbath and John Miceli of Meatloaf. |
Back to the top
|
Ron Concessi
Ron teaches all brass instruments and voice to Level 6, all saxes, clarinet and guitar to Level 4 and flute to Level 3. He has been teaching privately since 1996. He currently teaches in Smithtown Central Schools.
Ron has a Bachelor’s of Arts from Fredonia in Music Performance (with concentration in trumpet and voice) and a Master’s of Arts from Stony Brook in liberal studies.
He has performed and toured with the Fredonia Chamber Singers, the Buffalo Philharmonic and the group Combustible Blue.
Ron studied privately on voice with Dr. Don Long and Dr. Patricia Lorran, Tom Gestwicki on guitar and Dr. Wade Weast on trumpet.
|
Back to the top
|
Ryan Kaelin
Ryan teaches upright and electric bass. He attended Suffolk Community College
and Stony Brook
University where he was majoring in music.
He has played in NYSSMA, Music in the Parks competition and Jazz Days (high school jazz group.) At Suffolk, he was asked by the Music Department Head to participate in extracurricular performances.
His own personal band has played in multiple competitions and worked with several music companies. He intends to pursue teaching jazz.
|
Back to the top
|
Sally Morrison
Sally has been playing piano since 1987 and has been teaching for Sound Beach Music since 1996. She has studied with several teachers including Rozanne Chevallier. Sally also sings professionally. Her specialty is playing classical piano.
Sally is also one of the owners of Sound Beach Music. She has extensively coached and trained others to be effective.
|
Back to the top
|
Salvatore Barra
Salvatore Barra, guitarist, graduated with a BA in Music at Stony Brook University in 2007, after studying Engineering at Cooper Union and Jazz Performance at City College. Salvatore has studied classical guitar under the direction of distinguished Professor Jerry Willard, and electric guitar, bass and piano with Mr. Joseph Caggiano. He regularly performs in a wide variety of styles on classical, steel-string acoustic, electric and synth guitars.
He is a founding member, composer and producer of multiple bands including jazz-punk fusion band River Bottom Nightmares (2005-2007) and improvisatory trio Bermuda’s Excursion (2006-2007). In his professional home studio, he has recorded independent bands and classical musicians in the Stony Brook area for over 5 years. He has established himself as an eclectic accompanist of opera, jazz and pop vocalists, performing regularly with mezzo-soprano Christine Free and soprano Jacqueline Goldgorin.
Salvatore has performed as the principle guitarist in Suffolk County Community College’s production of The Rocky Horror Show (2006) and Theater Three’s production of Big River (2007).
Salvatore has an eclectic ear for music and shows his flexibility as a recording engineer on a wide variety of projects.
|
Back to the top
|
Steve Rudin
Steve attended the High School of Music in Manhattan and later received his Master’s Degree in Music Education from L.I.U., C.W. Post campus.
He also studied privately, first with his father, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic and later with Max Weiner, also with the Philharmonic and with Harvey Glickman and Sylvan Schulman, both former members of the N.B.C. Symphony.
He is a retired orchestra teacher in Rocky Point Schools. He has been teaching at Sound Beach Music since 1992.
Steve also plays at many social events around Long Island.
|
Back to the top
|
|
Steve Subject
Steve teaches guitar and bass and has been teaching since 1975.
Steve began studying the guitar at the age of 12. It was at this time that he began his career as a vocalist. He was the leader of several bands throughout high school. He began writing songs in 1971 after purchasing his first acoustic guitar. In 1975, he began performing as a soloist throughout Long Island, continuing to compose all along. In 1976, he joined a four piece band, The Spring Fever Band, as a bass player and vocalist, performing all over Long Island. In 1987, he joined a seven piece band, Spectrum, performing at weddings, bar mitzvahs, retirement parties, graduations, etc. To date, he still continues work as a soloist, in a duo and in up to a full band as required by the job.
In 1975, he first began teaching private lessons on guitar and later added electric bass. In 1979, he began teaching at a small music store in Sound Beach called Tony Sanns Music. A few months later, he began working in the store and within a short time became the manager. On January 1, 1985, he purchased the store and has owned it since.
In 1989, the store first expanded to five teaching rooms and added a drum shop. In 1994, Sound Beach Music moved from Sound Beach to Miller Place in Miller Place Square, expanding to seven teaching rooms. In February, 2004, was the last expansion to 5000 square feet with ten teaching rooms and a 500 square foot drum shop.
In 1998, his first CD, “All Life’s Changes” was released, containing 13 original compositions and featuring several other teachers of Sound Beach Music. In 2004, his second CD, “Living a Dream” was released, again containing 13 original tunes and featuring his wife, on vocals and even more members of the Sound Beach Music family on a wide variety of instruments.
Steve had up to 50 students at one time but now only has time for a handful. He and his wife Sally, co-owner of the store, continue to teach and are hands-on, working owners, highly involved in the day-to-day serving of our customers and the running of the store.
|
Back to the top
|
Sean Mackenzie
Sean is currently attending Stony Brook University.
He has been playing the
cello since 1997.
Sean started teaching the
cello in January of
2005. Cello is his main
instrument, but he
teaches piano as well.
He has studied privately with Christine Schaefer and
Rozanne Chevallier. He started teaching at Sound Beach Music in 2006.
|
Back to the top
|
| | |
