Music Lessons

Mr. Anthony Anastasi: Brass - BMus: Cleveland State

Tony is a band director in the Cleveland School System. His first teacher was his father who is below. He later studied with Charles Couch of the Cleveland Orchestra. Tony teaches private trumpet, trombone, French horn, and tuba for us.

Mr. Vincent James Anastasi: Brass – BMus: Peabody Conservatory

After playing trumpet for three years with the Navy Band, Jim studied with James Burke, principal trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony; he received further training with Donald Reinhardt of Philadelphia. For ten years, Mr. Anastasi traveled with road bands and since has taught privately for over thirty-five years. He has been a brass teacher at The Fairmount School of Music for thirteen years. He currently performs with TOPS: Tough Old Pros Swing Band.

Mr. Jim Brenner: Banjo

Although Jim attended the Miami University of Ohio, he learned how to play the banjo in clubs such as the Kenmill where Vernon, Ralph Stanley, and Sonny Osborne showed him techniques in between sets. He formed the groups, “Lost Bob & the Ozone Ramblers” and “The Bottom Line”. He taught bluegrass banjo at Goose Acres Folk Music Center for ten years and upon its closing, he began to teach for FSM.

Ms. Caroline Bruno:
Piano – MLIS: Kent State University and BA: Case Western Reserve University

Ms. Bruno is currently an alto at Cleveland Heights Church and is a piano accompanist for college music students and area high school musicals. She has taught private piano lessons at the Rainey Institute, done coursework in music education at Cleveland State University, and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Piano Performance from CIM/CWRU.

Mr. Neil Chastain:
Drums and Children's Drum Class- BMus: University of Michigan

Drummer, Percussionist and Electronic Musician Neil Chastain has had a love of drums since he was a child. Today, he brings together years of training and musical influences from around the world to create complex rhythms. In 1991, Neil co-founded SAFMOD, a multi-media performance ensemble that combines music, movement and visual artistry. In addition, Neil has played with the Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Project. In 2005, The Cleveland Free Times named him "Best Drummer in Cleveland." In 2006 Neil received the "Most interesting people" award by Cleveland Magazine. More recently, Neil has performed internationally in Europe with Kokolo Afrobeat orchestra (NYC) and in 2010, Neil was awarded the Creative workforce fellowship by the Community Partnership for arts and culture in Cleveland.

Ms. Emily Cornelius:
Violin-MMus: New England Conservatory and BMus: Oberlin Conservatory

Emily Cornelius holds violin performance degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (B.M. '05) and from the New England Conservatory (M.M. '07). Emily is a member of the Canton Symphony, the Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra, the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra, and the Opera Cleveland Orchestra. She also plays regularly with the Akron Symphony, and she serves as concertmaster for the Heights Chamber Orchestra. Emily maintains a large teaching studio, both at the Fairmount School and at her home in Shaker Heights.

Mr. Ray DeForest: Electric and Upright Bass

Ray started playing electric bass in 1968. He has since studied as an Upright Bass major at Cuyahoga Community College, taking private lessons with Harry Barnoff, principal Bassist, Cleveland Orchestra. He has played with a variety of local bands as well as national acts including Clark Terry (trumpet), Odean Pope (Sax Choir), and Johnny Johnson (pianist with Chuck Berry).

Ms. Ann Marie Falcone: Clarinet, Piano and Voice – MMus: University of Arizona and BMus: Northwestern University

Ann Marie is a soprano and clarinet soloist at Euclid Avenue Congregational Church. She has performed clarinet with the Catalina Chamber Orchestra (now the TCO) and Youngstown Symphonies and has been teaching private lessons since 1994. Her students’ accomplishments include being accepted to the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphonies (Principal Chair in 08/09), the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, the CMSS Orchestra and winning a Cleveland Heights High School senior solo.  Graduates from her studio are on scholarship in music at Universities throughout the US. Students also participate in studio recitals and OMEA contests. Ann Marie coaches students in chamber groups at CHHS and is the Director of Education at FSM. Voice students have played roles in musicals and plays at Heights Youth Theatre, Beachwood Theater, and the Beck Center along with their school productions. Wake up and Live Cleveland, an actor’s studio, interviewed Ann Marie for their television show. The interview is on YouTube and may be seen at her personal web-site here.

Mr. Thomas Haywood Jr.: Drums

Tom is a twenty-something old trap set drummer who has been playing seriously for the last 9 years. He is a 2004 Musicians' Institute (PIT) graduate, who has had the opportunity to play, record, and/or tour with independent, as well as major label talent. Thomas teaches a wide range of styles that includes Latin and jazz to double bass drumming. Feel free to check out his website for tracks of his playing at http://www.myspace.com/thomashaywoodjr

Mr. Andols Herrick: Drums

Andy Herrick completed several semesters of his performance degree at Kent State University before embarking on a career as a touring and recording musician. He has toured the world with the band Chimaira headlining with them and opening for the bands Disturbed and Korn, among others. With Chimaira he recorded five albums, and continues to work as a session and project drummer for various groups. He has been a featured artist in Modern Drummer and other drumming magazines. Andy has been teaching since 2005. He also is a percussion advisor for the Holy Name High School drumline.

Mr. James Jaffe: Cello – BM: University of Michigan

During the summer of 2011, Mr. Jaffe served as principal cellist of the National Repertory Orchestra and performed a solo with the ensemble. He has also appeared as a soloist with the St. John's Chamber Orchestra, the Diablo Symphony Orchestra, the Prometheus Orchestra, and the Peninsula Symphony. A committed chamber musician and teacher, Mr. Jaffe has participated in the CIM Intensive Quartet Seminar, coached chamber groups at Ann Arbor's PhoenixPhest, served for three years as the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra's Cello Mentor, and taught privately for eight years. He is currently a graduate student of Stephen Geber at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Mr. Dan Kish: Brass and Piano - BMus: Kent State University

Mr. Kish has been teaching private brass and piano lessons since 1983. He teaches adults and children. His success with young people is due to his conscious effort to relate to them at their level to help them play well and have fun at the same time. He teaches on Sundays for FSM.

Mr. Ben Kraus: Guitars - BA: Denison University

Ben studied guitar in high school at Fairmount school of Music with Matthew Ablan, a former FSM teacher and Kevin Richards. After high school, he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Music Performance. He teaches blues, both fingerstyle and electric, folk music, 60's rock and bluegrass. While at Denison U, he jammed with blues, jazz and bluegrass groups. He also works and has volunteered for Roots of American Music in schools throughout the Cleveland area.

Mr. Sandy Jerryl Love: Guitar - MMus: Wayne State University and BMus: Eastern Michigan University

As an educator, Mr. Love has taught in the Detroit and Southfield Public School systems. He has also taught at MaryGrove College, Cranbrook Institute in West Bloomfield, Michigan and teaches numerous private students. Mr. Love was the musical director for Mo-Town's Miracles for two and half years performing at concerts, clubs and doing local and national television shows. He performs gospel with his group, The Gospel Connection and popular music with his other group, The Love Connection. Mr. Love wrote two songs performed by William Wee Gee Howard of the Dramatics with Mr. Love on guitar. They are up on Youtube and may be heard here and here.

Mr. Michael McNamara: Guitars

Mike performs and teaches regularly at the House of Blues in Cleveland and with Passport Project. He teaches a number of genres, including classical, flamenco, blues and rock. He is currently pursuing dual degrees in Composition and Classical Guitar Performance at Cleveland State University.

Ms. Machelle McNeal: Piano – BA in Psychology and Philosophy: Cleveland State

With a solid background in classical piano, Machelle branched out and performed with her own jazz group for ten years. All of her students play on the Fairmount Music recitals and are encouraged to memorize every piece.

Mrs. Inna Saakova Onofrei: Piano – BMus: Russian State College of Music

Originally from Russia, Inna has been a private piano instructor since 1999. She has taught at the Russian Municipal School of Music and was the piano accompanist and choir director at Faith Community Church in Stavropol. She is studying for her Masters Degree in Piano and Composition at Cleveland State University.

Ms. Diana Pepelea: Violin – MMUS: Carnegie Mellon University and BMUS: Cleveland Institute of Music

Ms. Pepelea currently performs with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, City Music Cleveland, Opera Cleveland, Erie Philharmonic, and the Key West Symphony Orchestra. Aside from her orchestral curriculum, she has won many National and International competitions in her native Romania and enjoys teaching students of all ages.

Mr. Kevin Richards: Guitars – BMus: Cleveland State

Kevin is the founder and Executive Director of The Fairmount School of Music. Passionate about bringing American Roots Music into the Cleveland schools, he is the founder of Roots of American Music, a non-profit organization that teaches American history through the Blues, Bluegrass, Folk and Jazz. He also teaches private guitar lessons in all styles.

Mr. Gary Siperko: Guitars – BMus: Berklee College of Music

Mr. Siperko has over 20 years of experience teaching and performing. He specializes in Contemporary and Classical Guitar. Lessons focus on the application of Music Theory to Guitar to help students acquire strong compositional and songwriting skills, knowledge of chord construction, the ability to play scales proficiently, and gain necessary skills needed for solo improvisation. In additionto a wealth of teaching experience, his other achievements include recording and producing two full-length albums achieving international airplay, distribution and reviews, regular live performances in Northeast Ohio and several European tours.

Mr. Dominic Tancredi: Drums

has picked up the sticks nearly every day for the last twenty-plus years. Behind the drum kit by age 5, he's now a busy freelancedrummer who performs and records with several bands and artists in Cleveland. He's also the owner of Woodshed Percussion Concepts,his own percussion business that serves both internationally touring acts and local artists. See http://www.woodshedpercussion.com. Dominic eagerly shares his knowledge with drum students of any age and ability and has taught thousands of lessons in various styles to students of nearly every ability and age. Also see http://www.dominictancredi.com

Mr. Julian Taylor: Violin - MMus: Cleveland Institute of Music and BMus:Cleveland Institute of Music

Mr. Taylor has been teaching privately since 2004. His enjoyment of chamber music led him to begin his own string quartet, the Eridanus Quartet. He has been a faculty assistant for the Summer Chamber Music program at CIM and also a member of the Meadows String Quartet. Visit Guarino's Restaurant and you'll hear Julian as a "Strolling Italian Violinist"!

Ms. Deborah Van Kleef: Guitar & Ukulele– BA in English: York University

Deborah has taught guitar at Fairmount since 1995, and ukulele since 2008, working with beginners aged 3 to 80. Her first instrument was flute, which she studied with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, and in the wind performance program at York University in Toronto where she earned a B.A. in English. A lifelong student of folk music, she began playing guitar in her twenties along with Appalachian dulcimer and pennywhistle. Her song, “The Great Fast Food Strike,” was performed by Pete Seeger, at the historic Carnegie Hall concert marking the fiftieth anniversary of Smithsonian Folkways Records. She and the song were featured in WCPN's documentary, "Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin'," which aired on 160 stations across the country. In 2008 she released her first CD, "Work in Progress." www.deborahvankleef.com

Mr. Stuart Vokes: Guitar – MMus: Cleveland Institute of Music and BMus: University of North Texas

Stuart has been teaching classical and flamenco guitar to students of all ages for nine years. He is a member of The Fairmount Spanish Dancers where he sings and accompanies the troupe.

Mr. Rob Williams: Saxophones, Flute, and Clarinet

Rob has performed and recorded for 12 years with the Swing Lizards and traveled widely with the Mike Patrone Quartet. He also does educational performances in many Cleveland area schools with ROAM and Young Audiences.

Mr. Michael Wilson: Guitars – BMUS: Cleveland State University

Mr. Wilson plays lead guitar for the touring band System Divide and is a former member of Abigail Williams. He has taught guitars to beginners, intermediates, and advanced students since 2004. He teaches for us on Saturdays.