Teaching is something that came very natural for Sara. Sharing her passion for music and inspiring students to find their voice through an instrument is something she relates to on a very personal level. Her teaching style is all about helping each student reach their musical goals and having fun while doing it.

A second-generation musician, Sara grew up in a home filled with music. By age 12, Sara began private guitar lessons at a small music store in uptown Westerville where her passion for playing grew rapidly. By age 16, she was playing out professionally in a 4-piece cover band called The Eleventh Hour, in which she filled the one and only guitar chair for the band.

When she’s not at Music Royale, you can catch Sara fronting the rock n’ roll cover band The Mighty Ikes, which has been gigging around the Columbus area since 2009.

Race Lerma has been playing violin since the age of four and has grown up in the string music scene of Northwest Ohio. His background and training include 12 years of private instruction from various teachers in Fostoria and Findlay, OH., 2 years of private lessons at Ohio Northern University under Professor Sunny Zank, And the past 4 years at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music studying violin performance and music business, as well as two years of parallel training in piano. Race has been teaching private lessons in Findlay and Columbus off and on for the past 6 years.

From 2009-2017, Race was heavily involved in various orchestras in the Northwest Ohio area, playing First Violin in the Findlay Youth Orchestra, Lima Area Youth Orchestra, Findlay HS Symphony Orchestra, FHS Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Regional Orchestra, and the University of Findlay Orchestra. At the end of these 8 years, Race received the National School Orchestra Award.

In addition to teaching violin, Race also plays guitar and is a performing singer/songwriter who plays at small venues and restaurants. He has played bass in the Findlay rock band Null Set since 2013, playing at breweries and festivals all across Northwest Ohio. In his spare time, Race enjoys writing songs and watching YouTube.

Classically trained and musically motivated, Megan teaches complete musicianship techniques applicable to many genres such as: classical, pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, fiddling, and improvisation. Students will learn music from method books, school songs, pop music, and more.

Megan’s musical journey began in 3rd grade. She took private lessons at her neighborhood small business music store with a multitude of Duquesne University grad students until meeting Mr. & Mrs. Fox at South Hills Junior Orchestra. These amazing educators inspired Megan to make music her career. While attending Westminster College, Megan studied with Dr. Crawford Perttu (Violin) and Bob Antonucci (Euphonium) and graduated in 2014 with a B.A in both English Literature and Music. During her undergrad, Megan was involved in the WC Scottish fiddling ensemble, marching, concert, & symphonic bands, Orchestra, and low brass ensemble. She also earned her second black belt and held the position of student technical director for Orr Auditorium.

Megan has called Columbus Ohio home since 2016. As the Orchestra Sheet Music Specialist at Stanton’s Sheet Music, she advises school teachers and private teachers on all of the resources available for stringed instruments. She is also the social media manager for many music brands in Columbus, including Stanton’s Sheet Music, Opera Project Columbus, Columbus Cultural Orchestra, and her all-original Americana band, The Chapters. Arts education is her passion so she also dedicates her time to stage managing for Xclaim! Dance Theatre and grant writing for the various organizations she works with.

Troy began playing percussion in middle school band. He went on to study music at Ohio University, where he studied classical percussion with Roger Braun and Joseph VanHassel and drum set with Guy Remonko. In college, Troy participated in as many ensembles as possible and was known for borrowing large stacks of scores from the library to read through. Since college, Troy has played, toured, and recorded with a variety of bands and ensembles on drum set, bass, and vibraphone. Some past projects include: Radarhill (https://radarhill.bandcamp.com/), Mosses (https://mosses.bandcamp.com/), and a rock opera written by local composer Nick Weckman about worms taking over the planet entitled “Worms Rise Up” (https://wormsriseup.bandcamp.com/album/worms-rise-up). Currently, Troy plays drums with October Ember (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzAdc08FSOI), The Francis Bacon Band (https://francisbaconband.bandcamp.com/), guitarist Mike Sopko (https://www.mikesopko.com/music), bass with Marvin The Robot (https://marvintherobot.bandcamp.com/), and drums and vibraphone as a soloist, bandleader and freelancer. As an instructor, Troy has taught students of all ages and loves to help people find joy playing music and develop their unique sound based on their interests and influences. Outside of music, Troy enjoys being outdoors, running, tennis, card games, and movies.

Dr. Gaby Valladares is a native of Santa Clarita, California. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara, she made her way to Ohio, where she has established herself as a clarinetist and teacher around the city of Columbus. She has performed with local symphonies, such as the Westerville Symphony, and has performed with symphonies in California, including the Symphony of the Canyons. She is also part of the Held-Together Wind Quintet, which was awarded the Barbara and Sheldon Pinchuk Arts-Community Outreach Grant. This quintet also had the honor of opening for the Imani Wind Quintet at the Southern Theatre in March 2022. She also served as the President of the ClariNetwork Association, whose efforts have funded masterclasses featuring world-renowned performers and teachers. With Dr. Sarah Jaegers, she is a member of the DesertLake duo, who have performed at ICA’s 2020 Clarinetfest.

While doing her DMA degree at Ohio State, she served as the head Graduate Teaching Associate for the History of Rock ‘n’ Roll course. During her time in her performance program, she advocated for the playing of music of a wide range of performers and is comfortable playing music ranging from Johannes Brahms to Vulfpeck. She continues diving into and teaching her students about classical and popular music, including jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.

Gaby has taught a wide range of students and has experience teaching elementary, middle, high school, and university level students. She served as a graduate associate in OSU’s clarinet studio and has experience teaching a wide range of instruments, from clarinet to piano and saxophone.

During her free time, Gaby enjoys finding and listening to records, buying books she won’t have time to read, and transcribing famous rock solos to clarinet (Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” is her most recent project).

Dr. Valladares holds a DMA and an MM degree from the Ohio State University and she received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her primary teachers include Dr. Caroline Hartig and Paul Bambach.