Northwest School of Music Staff

Go directly to instructors for the following: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Drums, Violin and Viola Voice

Kathleen: Office Manager

Scott Cain: Guitar

Scott Cain is the co-founder of Northwest School of Music. He has been actively teaching guitar lessons in Texas since 1978, and has been teaching music in Austin, Texas since 1981. He is well versed in the pedagogy of Classical, Jazz, Rock, Funk, Rhythm and Blues, Country, Finger Picking, and Pop Styles.

Scott is a graduate of the University of North Texas State with a degree in Performance of Guitar, and he has won awards for both teaching and performance. Scott is also a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Honor Society. Many of Scott’s students have won scholarships and honors as well, and a number of them are now professional performers and teachers in the Central Texas area.

As an instructor, Scott was given the “Teaching Excellence Award” by Austin Community College in August of 2001, and has been actively teaching music courses at A.C.C. since 1986 and at St. Stephens Episcopal School since 1984. He has also been a guest lecturer at Texas State University, and a faculty member at Temple Junior College.

In addition, Scott has been asked to develop guitar programs at other community and junior colleges in Texas, along with Texas State University in San Marcos.

As a performer, Scott was chosen by audition to perform for Andre Segovia in Madrid, Spain during the summer of 1979. He received Austin Chronicle awards for best new band and best lounge act as a member of Casino Royal. Additionally, Scott has performed with Grammy Award winners Shirley Jones and Floyd Domino, The Austin Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Country artists Frenchy Burke, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Beth Williams, and Austin Chronicle Hall of Fame Janet Lynn, jazz artists Mady Kaye, Mike Mordecai, Tony Campise, Kelly Grey, The Nash Hernandez Orchestra, The Groove Machine and many others. Scott can be seen as a frequent performer and featured soloist at Riverbend Church.

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Armando Aleman: Guitar

Armando Aleman picked up the guitar at age 12 and taught himself to play. In '91, after playing by ear for 8 years, he began studying the guitar under Scott Cain and Maria Sanchez Cortez. Armando holds a degree in Music Education (with Texas teacher certification) from Texas A&M in Corpus Christi where he also studied under Chester Rupe and Philip Hii. Armando has taught privately over 10 years and for the past 6 years taught guitar for Aldine ISD magnet schools for performing arts. He also recieved Suzuki certification under the direction Andrea Cannon in Houston,TX. Armando has written and recorded jingles for Time Warner and has played with various goups which have taken him to perform in Texas, Louisiana, & California. Musical influences include (but not limited to) Frank Zappa, Jerry Garcia, Trey Anastacio/Phish, Wes Montgomery, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Porl Thompson, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Bach, Villa Lobos, Ligeti, Neil Young.

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Carter Arrington: Guitar

Carter Arrington began playing guitar at the age of 12 and studying with various teachers in the Roanoke, VA area. At the age of 15, he earned one of 25 nation-wide scholarships from Berklee College of Music in Boston for the upcoming summer guitar sessions. Previously versed in rock and metal styles, his Boston experience led him to explore more avenues of music in an intense musical environment and a decision to pursue music as a career. At 17, he attended the Atlanta Institute of Music, a vocational performance music school specializing in preparing students to become successful working musicians. Atlanta also provided a large R&B and funk music scene, and opened up Carter’s musical doors to the likes of Prince, Earth Wind and Fire, and various other fusion artists that greatly enhanced his rhythmic sensibilities. Upon graduation, he taught various courses and levels at the Atlanta Institute of Music including scales, rock performance, jazz concepts, rock styles, and odd meter performance. Carter also taught private students independently, and as an instructor for Mars Music, teaching around 35 students weekly. He currently resides in Austin and recently completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Carter is versed in many musical styles ranging from rock, metal, funk, R&B, jazz, fusion, Latin, and some classical and finger-style guitar. Recent experience included a European tour that included performances at the North Sea and Montreax Jazz festivals, two of the most renowned in the world, various other gigs in Germany and Switzerland, and opening for The Headhunters. He gigs regularly in the Austin area and occasionally in Lubbock, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Local gigs have included groups such as the UT AIME ensemble, Groovin’ Ground, Larry, Apostrophe, The Palm School Choir, and currently enjoys various R&B projects. Carter has been teaching guitar for 7 years.

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Rob Bentley: Guitar

Rob Bentley graduated Summa Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music and later began a Masters degree at the University of North Texas in jazz studies. He has studied with such notable teachers as, Mick Goodrick, Charlie Banacos, and Fred Hamilton, and has attended seminars with John Scofield, Mike Stern, and Pat Martino. Rob has performed in 26 states and six European countries, having played in rock bands, country bands, rhythm and blues bands, eighteen piece big bands, jazz combos and duos. Currently, he performs regularly throughout Texas in several different bands and styles.

Rob hopes to teach each student in manner that provides a well rounded musical foundation while catering to the interests of each individual student. Rob has been teaching professionally for the last twelve years.

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William Brown: Guitar

Will Brown, from Northern Michigan, has been playing music in one form or another for twenty-five years. He started out playing the piano, and eventually discovered the guitar, specifically the acoustic guitar, which is his primary musical interest. Over the years he has explored many styles and forms of guitar playing, including classical, slack key, blues, rock, gypsy jazz, bluegrass, slide, ragtime, solo fingerstyle, alternate tunings, and modern percussive techniques. He studied at the University of Maine, the University of Michigan, and the University of Massachusetts, and with many excellent guitarists, such as Pat Donohue, Muriel Anderson, and Pete Huttlinger. He has performed with many different bands and artists and also as a solo performer. Some of his principal guitar influences have been Tommy Emmanuel, Don Ross, Michael Hedges, Tony Rice, Andy Mckee, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Joe Pass, Agustin Barrios, Pat Donohue, Leo Kottke, Django Reinhardt, Kaki King, and Pierre Bensusan. Aside from playing and performing, Will also enjoys teaching and has taught high school and college courses in various subjects and has been teaching guitar for ten years. Outside the realm of music he likes to travel, read and write, hike, and the company of good friends.

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Nathan Campbell: Guitar

Raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Nathan has been playing guitar and electric bass for ten years. Learning from the rock and metal greats like Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Metallica, he started playing in his own bands in high school. As time passed, he decided to continue his musical involvement with a band called Fatback Circus and moved from Stillwater to San Antonio. He entered the School of Music at The University of Texas at San Antonio as a composition major and studied with Dr. James Balentine, Dr. David Heuser, and Mr. James Syler. He was the recipient of many musical and academic scholarships, including the Reed Holmes Composition Award, Nathaniel Stokes Memorial Scholarship, Great Conversation Honors Scholarship, a UTSA Grant, Seldon Leavell Scholarship, Friends of Music Scholarship, and the Department of Music Academic Achievement Award (awarded to one senior for outstanding academic achievement). He received first place in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Research Competition with the presentation of his piece "String Quartet No.1." Nathan's education in San Antonio helped him broaden his musical awareness beyond rock and explore the minimalist music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Arvo Part. Having played bass in the Jazz Combos, he also became familiar with the jazz world. His favorite jazz composer is Charles Mingus. In order to graduate from the Honors College at UTSA, Nathan composed a work for full orchestra called "Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra" as his Honors Thesis project. The first movement was performed at his Senior Recital with the Eugene Dowdy, Dean of the Music Department, conducting.

Classical guitar has been of big part of Nathan's education. He has played for the UTSA Guitar Ensemble and performed many concerts of his favorite composers, like Heitor Villa Lobos, Silvius Leopold Weiss, and Fernando Sor. He studied with Mr. Micheal Richter, Dr. Matt Dunne and Dr. Matthew Hinsley.

Nathan is well versed in classical, rock, metal, pop, counterpoint, composition, song writing, and music theory and is moderately familiar with jazz and eastern music.

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Douglas Marcis: Guitar

Douglas Marcis has been studying and performing guitar for 17 years. Since 1995, Douglas has been teaching guitar to hundreds of students in all age groups. During this time, Douglas has developed fun and rewarding methods to learning the instrument. Douglas holds a bachelors in classical guitar from Lambuth University. While in Tennessee, Douglas acted as adjunct faculty for both Lambuth and Union University teaching beginning and classical guitar. Douglas uses teaching methods that incorporate a solid foundation of music theory, sight-reading, performance, composing, and ear training skills.

Years of Tennessee tutelage have influenced Doug’s musicianship to incorporate a wide expanse of stylistic variety. Doug has a Bachelor of Arts degree from which he studied under Tom Price, a former pupil of renowned artist/teacher John Johns. During these scholastic years, Doug performed in the university’s classical guitar ensemble, jazz band, and show choir. After college, Doug’s teaching and performing exposed him to meet and play with music legends Carl Perkins, Honeyboy Edwards, and Roubaix (Al Green’s band leader). These experiences along with an innumerable amount of regional club gigs melded the delta blues sound into Doug’s repertoire. Next, after attending a renaissance festival, Doug became inspired by the Celtic sounds, and began studying Celtic folk melodies. Now in Austin, Doug is performing and teaching his classical-country-blues-ragtime-Celtic mix.

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Matt Muehling: Guitar

Matt Muehling began playing music at the age of 9, when he joined his elementary school orchestra on viola. He was actually too small to play a full size viola, so he had to play a violin strung with viola strings. He continued to play in orchestra through 8th grade and had begun to take private lessons, when he decided to stop playing viola at age 14. That summer in 1995, he realized that he felt empty inside without an instrument to play, so he took up guitar. He played guitar all through high school as a hobby, and didn't really take it seriously until his first year of college. In 2002, Matt moved to Denton to pursue a Jazz Guitar performance degree from the University of North Texas. While in Denton, he studied classical guitar with Yoban Quijano and Jazz with Terry Henkins, Richard McClure, and Department Head Fred Hamilton. He performed in various UNT guitar ensembles such as the L5 and the Super 400, and in the 8 o'clock Lab Band, as well as locally in the Dallas/Denton/Ft. Worth areas; playing a variety of music from Jazz to Rock to Old School Blues and Funk. He also began teaching at the Southlake music academy. Matt graduated in 2007 and moved to Austin to further pursue his music career. He currently performs in various vocal and instrumental jazz settings around Austin, and has been given the opportunity to continue teaching here at Northwest.

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Matt Read: Guitar

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Nathan Campbell: Bass

Raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Nathan has been playing guitar and electric bass for ten years. Learning from the rock and metal greats like Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Metallica, he started playing in his own bands in high school. As time passed, he decided to continue his musical involvement with a band called Fatback Circus and moved from Stillwater to San Antonio. He entered the School of Music at The University of Texas at San Antonio as a composition major and studied with Dr. James Balentine, Dr. David Heuser, and Mr. James Syler. He was the recipient of many musical and academic scholarships, including the Reed Holmes Composition Award, Nathaniel Stokes Memorial Scholarship, Great Conversation Honors Scholarship, a UTSA Grant, Seldon Leavell Scholarship, Friends of Music Scholarship, and the Department of Music Academic Achievement Award (awarded to one senior for outstanding academic achievement). He received first place in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Research Competition with the presentation of his piece "String Quartet No.1." Nathan's education in San Antonio helped him broaden his musical awareness beyond rock and explore the minimalist music of Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Arvo Part. Having played bass in the Jazz Combos, he also became familiar with the jazz world. His favorite jazz composer is Charles Mingus. In order to graduate from the Honors College at UTSA, Nathan composed a work for full orchestra called "Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra" as his Honors Thesis project. The first movement was performed at his Senior Recital with the Eugene Dowdy, Dean of the Music Department, conducting.

Classical guitar has been of big part of Nathan's education. He has played for the UTSA Guitar Ensemble and performed many concerts of his favorite composers, like Heitor Villa Lobos, Silvius Leopold Weiss, and Fernando Sor. He studied with Mr. Micheal Richter, Dr. Matt Dunne and Dr. Matthew Hinsley.

Nathan is well versed in classical, rock, metal, pop, counterpoint, composition, song writing, and music theory and is moderately familiar with jazz and eastern music.

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Matt Muehling: Bass

Matt Muehling began playing music at the age of 9, when he joined his elementary school orchestra on viola. He was actually too small to play a full size viola, so he had to play a violin strung with viola strings. He continued to play in orchestra through 8th grade and had begun to take private lessons, when he decided to stop playing viola at age 14. That summer in 1995, he realized that he felt empty inside without an instrument to play, so he took up guitar. He played guitar all through high school as a hobby, and didn't really take it seriously until his first year of college. In 2002, Matt moved to Denton to pursue a Jazz Guitar performance degree from the University of North Texas. While in Denton, he studied classical guitar with Yoban Quijano and Jazz with Terry Henkins, Richard McClure, and Department Head Fred Hamilton. He performed in various UNT guitar ensembles such as the L5 and the Super 400, and in the 8 o'clock Lab Band, as well as locally in the Dallas/Denton/Ft. Worth areas; playing a variety of music from Jazz to Rock to Old School Blues and Funk. He also began teaching at the Southlake music academy. Matt graduated in 2007 and moved to Austin to further pursue his music career. He currently performs in various vocal and instrumental jazz settings around Austin, and has been given the opportunity to continue teaching here at Northwest.

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Christie Jackel: Piano

Christy began playing piano at age six. After studying with Pierrette Mouledous in Dallas, she moved to Austin to study with Nancy Garrett at The University of Texas, where she earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. In addition to piano performance, her coursework emphasized composition and music theory. Since her graduation, she has taught piano and music theory privately, has worked in the banking field and has also taught special education for Round Rock ISD. She also enjoys accompanying vocalists and other instrumentalists. Christy has lived in Austin for many years and has two teenage children. She is committed to developing each student’s talent in order to fully experience the joys of music for a lifetime.

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Michael Gibson: Piano

I am originally from Snyder, TX. I attended West Texas A&M University in Canyon, TX on four classical piano scholarships. While there, I was also the pianist for the University Touring Jazz Band, and sang Tenor in the Collegiate Choir. I graduated Cum Laude in 2005 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition. Before leaving the Canyon/Amarillo area, I played for half a season as a pit keyboardist for the Amarillo Little Theater, a local musical theater company. Since moving to Austin, I have maintained a living as a professional musician, playing on the road as a touring keyboardist for various country music artists, playing and singing a huge variety of styles out at the Uptown Piano Bar in New Braunfels, and playing in an original Austin-based progressive rock/pop band called Professor Shark, of which I am a founding member. I am also currently the principal accompanist for Saint John Vianney Catholic Church in Round Rock. I have done occasional work as a studio keyboardist within the past couple of years, and have also done some orignal composing for independent films, something which I aspire to do more of. Something I have also become skilled at, and aspire to do MUCH more of, is audio engineering. I've become quite fond of being the technician/producer behind original recordings.

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Rebecca Maze: Piano

Rebecca Maze studied piano under Charlotte Tull and Dr. John Paul at Sam Houston State University, where she received a BM in music theory and composition. She continues to study under Dr. Timothy Woolsey, and gives solo recitals periodically.

Rebecca has been the music director at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park for 13 years. She directs the adult choir and plays the piano for worship services, and has also directed children’s choirs and musical productions in church. She taught music at Lake Travis Elementary, and has 7 years experience in teaching piano.

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Daniela Salcedo : Piano

Daniela L. Salcedo, Mezzo-Soprano, recently graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance (Pedagogy) and is a student of William Lewis. Daniela just performed Public Opinion in Orpheus in the Underworld with the Butler Opera Center Ensemble in 2007. She has also performed the title role in Bizet’s Carmen and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Daniela has performed with the Camille Play House in Brownsville, Texas in productions of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and A Christmas Carol. She has also participated with the Undergraduate Opera in the University of Texas at Austin with The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, and The Review of Music of Offenbach. She has also participated with the Butler Opera Center singing in the chorus for Eugene Onegin, El Amor Brujo y La Vida Breve, The Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Plump Jack, as well as singing the role of the Third Lady and Third Spirit in The Magic Flute. With the BOC, she has performed scenes in Falstaff and A Little Night Music as Petra. Ms. Salcedo has performed for Governor Rick Perry as well as many other important figures.

While in school, Daniela taught beginning voice for non majors at the University of Texas at Austin. Currently she is teaching voice and beginning piano at the Northwest School of Music in Austin and planning to be certified in bilingual education.

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Kay Salinas: Piano

Mrs. Salinas began studying piano at age six, organ at age twelve and by age fifteen, started teaching piano and organ lessons at a music school in the St. Louis area. Kay’s love for music was encouraged by her mother, a professional vocalist, whom she accompanied for years, as well as accompanying students auditioning at Butler University School of Music. Only in middle school, she started accompanying school choirs and continued through high school and college at Ohio Wesleyan University, where she majored in Piano and Music Education. While at Wesleyan, she tutored other piano majors in theory. Kay taught at Daarrud School of Music where at one time she had 68 private students. She has experience teaching music and piano to elementary and middle school children. In addition to teaching, Kay has played the piano and pipe organ in several churches over the years. Kay loves to teach students of all ages and has taught beginners as young as three and as “young at heart” as 78. With forty years of teaching experience, she believes in teaching music, not just how to play the piano. Kay teaches theory in her lessons in order for her students to use what they have learned to apply to other instruments or types of music. Kay recently moved back home to Austin and is excited to be able to share her love of music with students at Northwest School of Music.

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Ekaterina Tangarova: Piano

Ekaterina Tangarova is a native of Sofia, Bulgaria. She started playing piano at the age of five with her mother who was her first teacher. After finishing the Sofia Secondary School of Music, Ekaterina was admitted to the State Academy of Music “Pancho Vladiguerov” in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, studying with one of the most extraordinary pianist’s in the European Pianist tradition, Professor Anton Dikov. In 1991, Ekaterina was awarded First and Grand prize on the National Piano Duets Competition, and she earned a Diploma and Fourth prize on the “Lizt-Bartok” Piano Competition, in Sofia, Bulgaria. After four years, in 1995, she won the National Competition for Pianists “P. Vladiquerov” in Shoumen, Bulgaria. Her appearances as a soloist were in 1995-1996 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Rousse and Varna, performing F. Lizt, First Piano Concerto, and then in 1997 with The Symphony Orchestra of the State Academy of Music performing Beethoven’s 4th Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. After her graduation, Ekaterina moved with her family to Monterrey, Mexico. As a piano teacher and accompanist, she worked in the Superior School of Music and Dance in Monterrey, The University of Monterrey, and The Liseo de MTY. During her seven years living and working in Mexico, Ekaterina had numerous chamber music performances in the Spring and Fall Festivals of Monterrey in 1999, 2001, and 2002, playing a wide range in repertoire and diverse styles of music. In September 2005, Ekaterina and her family moved to Austin, Texas. Since then, she dedicates her time to teaching piano, accompanying several instrumentalists at the University of Texas, and working as a pianist for St. Tomas More Choir. Ekaterina’s teaching style is based on the classical traditions that incorporate piano technique, music theory, and musicality while developing each student’s talents and joys of music. Ekaterina is married to Vanguel Tangarov, a Principal Clarinetist with the Austin Lyric Opera, and they have two daughters, Maria and Illiana.

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Lisa Werst: Piano, Flute and Clarinet

Lisa Werst has a wide variety of musical talent and experience. She decided at the age of five that she wanted to pursue music after attending a pep rally and watching the school band play. She began this pursuit by starting piano lessons at age seven, and flute lessons at age eleven. Her talent and hard work earned her a “First Division” award as a flute player in the solo UIL All-State Competition in her Texas high school.

Lisa received a full music scholarship to college. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in music education from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas in May of 1996, and received her Texas classroom teacher certification in 1999. She has experience as an elementary school music teacher, a junior high beginner band instructor and jazz band director, as well as a junior high music appreciation class teacher. She was a high school band director for the marching band, the concert band, and the jazz band. Lisa has been an accompanist for UIL Solo and Ensemble Competitions. She has been a private instructor for piano, flute, saxophone, trombone and clarinet.

Other accomplishments of Lisa’s include being a singer for the long-running “Passion Play” in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and being a pianist and choir member over the years for a number of churches. Lisa has also been the composer and arranger of various styles of music.

Lisa’s favorite songs to play on the piano are the “William Tell Overture” and tunes from the movie “The Sound of Music.” Her future plans include pursuing a Master’s degree in composition, arranging and digital recording. During her spare time Lisa enjoys reading, hiking, and photography, as well as playing and listening to all styles of music.

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Crystalyn Jass: Voice

Crystalyn Jass is a musician to the core. She graduated from UT Austin with a degree in Choral Music Studies and is currently working toward attaining teacher certification to teach elementary music. Throughout her pre-college musical endeavors, Crystalyn performed at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Anton Armstrong, and was a member of the TMEA All-State Mixed Choir in 2001. While at UT, Crystalyn studied voice with famed mezzo-soprano Rose Taylor, as well as Russian bass, Nikita Storojev. She was a member of the premiere choir, UT Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. James Morrow for four years, where she performed various solos. In addition, she has performed in many cities and venues, including the ACDA national convention in Los Angeles, ACDA national convention in Oklahoma City, and the TMEA Convention in San Antonio. In 2006, she sang in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet. In the summer of 2006 she traveled to Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, and Paraty, Brazil to sing in the premiere recording and performance of Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia's Missa de Nossa Senhora da Concelcao. Over the last four years, Crystalyn was a part of three recordings with the UT Chamber Singers under the Naxos label and two with the Koch label, including one with Mezzo Soprano Suzanne Mentzer. She is a proud member of Sigma Alpha Iota, TMEA and ACDA. Crystalyn has worked as an apprentice teacher under the supervision of Jana Morris at Oak Hill Elementary, Nora Jeffrey at Gullet Elementary, David Beussman at Murchison Middle School, Dr. David Means at Westwood High School, and Linda Hester at Grisham Middle School. She’s been teaching private voice lessons since 2006, and lives for the “AHA!” moment of a breakthrough. In her spare time, Crystalyn enjoys writing children’s songs, telling bad jokes over coffee, and hanging out with family and friends.

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Daniela Salcedo : Voice

Daniela L. Salcedo, Mezzo-Soprano, recently graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance (Pedagogy) and is a student of William Lewis. Daniela just performed Public Opinion in Orpheus in the Underworld with the Butler Opera Center Ensemble in 2007. She has also performed the title role in Bizet’s Carmen and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Daniela has performed with the Camille Play House in Brownsville, Texas in productions of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and A Christmas Carol. She has also participated with the Undergraduate Opera in the University of Texas at Austin with The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, and The Review of Music of Offenbach. She has also participated with the Butler Opera Center singing in the chorus for Eugene Onegin, El Amor Brujo y La Vida Breve, The Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Plump Jack, as well as singing the role of the Third Lady and Third Spirit in The Magic Flute. With the BOC, she has performed scenes in Falstaff and A Little Night Music as Petra. Ms. Salcedo has performed for Governor Rick Perry as well as many other important figures.

While in school, Daniela taught beginning voice for non majors at the University of Texas at Austin. Currently she is teaching voice and beginning piano at the Northwest School of Music in Austin and planning to be certified in bilingual education

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Lisa Werst: Voice

Lisa Werst has a wide variety of musical talent and experience. She decided at the age of five that she wanted to pursue music after attending a pep rally and watching the school band play. She began this pursuit by starting piano lessons at age seven, and flute lessons at age eleven. Her talent and hard work earned her a “First Division” award as a flute player in the solo UIL All-State Competition in her Texas high school.

Lisa received a full music scholarship to college. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in music education from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas in May of 1996, and received her Texas classroom teacher certification in 1999. She has experience as an elementary school music teacher, a junior high beginner band instructor and jazz band director, as well as a junior high music appreciation class teacher. She was a high school band director for the marching band, the concert band, and the jazz band. Lisa has been an accompanist for UIL Solo and Ensemble Competitions. She has been a private instructor for piano, flute, saxophone, trombone and clarinet.

Other accomplishments of Lisa’s include being a singer for the long-running “Passion Play” in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and being a pianist and choir member over the years for a number of churches. Lisa has also been the composer and arranger of various styles of music.

Lisa’s favorite songs to play on the piano are the “William Tell Overture” and tunes from the movie “The Sound of Music.” Her future plans include pursuing a Master’s degree in composition, arranging and digital recording. During her spare time Lisa enjoys reading, hiking, and photography, as well as playing and listening to all styles of music.

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Kirk Sonnenberg: Drums

Kirk Sonnenberg grew up in a small Texas town just south of Dallas.  He began playing drums at age eight, and played his first gig on drums at age fifteen.  While drums remained his primary instrument, after high school, he went on to tackle other instruments, including piano and guitar.  In addition to playing all three instruments in a number of Rock, Folk Rock, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Trip-hop, Funk, Country Rock, and Alternative Rock bands over the years, Kirk has been teaching all three instruments since 1995. With his Rock-n-Roll and Jazz-heavy background, most people don’t suspect that Kirk is a great lover of Classical music.  He played Classical concerts on piano at his alma mater, The University of Texas at Arlington, while obtaining his degree in Music Media.  Around the same time, he also played drums in two different Jazz bands.  One of the Jazz tunes that Kirk played both keyboard and drums on was even voted #1 Jazz MP3 on the MP3 website. After spending five years in Chicago, IL, where he played most notably with the country rock band, Tin Horse, during their summer 2008 tour across the Midwest, Kirk has returned to Texas.  He now lives in Austin with his beautiful wife and daughter.  All three are pleased as punch that they will never have to endure subzero temperatures for two weeks in a row again.

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Justin Olejnik: Drums

Justin Olejnik has graduated with a BA in the Texas Tech music program. He has been drumming for 10 years with knowledge of many musical styles including; Rock, Jazz and Latin. While attending Texas Tech he performed in the Percussion Ensembles, Marching Band and the Steel Drum Ensemble. He has played in performing bands for the past 6 years and is currently with his own band performing all around Texas. In addition to drumming, he also has a passion for music theory and analyzing all types of music. After attending Texas Tech he earned a certificate in Live Sound Engineering at South Plain College of Levelland, Texas. There he has learned a wealth of information about performing drums and music on stage. He has taught private lessons for the past 2 years and is looking forward to sharing his passion and knowledge with all his students at the Northwest and Pfluger-Rock Schools of Music.

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Milena Georgieva: Violin and Viola

Milena Georgieva is a native from Burgas, Bulgaria and began playing violin at the age of 7 with Stefan Kantchev in her hometown. At 10, she was admitted to the National Secondary School of Music and Stage Art with Prof. Pantcho Vladigerove, in Burgas. During her school years, Milena achieved great progress as a performer and artist. She performed in various concerts and was the winner of numerous prestigious prizes in many significant musical forms – including, third prize at the Competition for the Best Performance of German musical works in 1991, first prize at the Competition for Best Performance of Bulgarian musical works in 1988, and second prize in the same competition in 1990. Following, Milena continued to take charge of her professional and musical education by enrolling in the Academy of Music, Dancing, Pictorial and Plastic Arts of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Musical Pedagogy and Violin Performance, studying with Alexander Spirov. During these years, she participated in a variety of symphonies, chamber orchestras, and ensembles, as well as, teaching violin. Since her graduation, Milena has performed in productions throughout France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Italy, Austria, Lebanon, Japan, and the USA. Currently, Milena plays with the Waco Symphony Orchestra, and can be seen in various musical productions throughout central Texas in Georgetown and Austin, as well as, teaching at the Northwest School of Music.

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Kristen Randolph: Violin and Viola

Kristen Randolph began studying violin at the age of 8 in Austin, Texas. Growing up in Austin, Kristen studied classical music and participated in many chamber and orchestral performances. She moved to Brooklyn, NY to pursue a music degree at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. While living in Brooklyn, she studied with Roumi Petrova and Masao Kawasaki. She has taught both private and group lessons to students of all ages for over 5 years. Kristen returned to Austin after graduating, and has continued to pursue teaching as a career. She has begun to explore other genres of music and plans to continue her music education.

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Christina Steele: Violin

Christina Steele began studying violin at the age of 8 in Okinawa, Japan. After several years of study, she moved to Texas to further both her academic and musical education. While in Austin, she was involved in many ensembles and orchestras throughout the area, in addition to studying with Alexander Serafimov. In 2003, Christina was admitted to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on a full violin scholarship and studied with both Axel Strauss and Wei He. Not only was solo playing an integral part of her musical progress, but chamber music also played an important role in Christina’s musical development. Midori, the Tokyo String Quartet, and Menahaim Pressler were a few of the teaching resources the Conservatory offered her. Following her graduation in 2007, Christina studied at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, Spain. Currently, Ms. Steele plays frequently with the Temple Symphony, and is the newest addition to the teaching team at Northwest School Of Music.

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