Our Teachers

Abbey Bechtol

Instruments Taught: Piano, Woodwinds, Bass, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone

Abbey Bechtol is a music instructor and composer with experience teaching piano, saxophone, bass guitar, and clarinet. Abbey strives to help students improve their technique and develop an understanding of music theory by analyzing the music they play. She believes it is important to foster an appreciation for music as an art form and the depth of emotion it can convey.

Caleb Hutslar

Instruments Taught: Piano

Caleb Hutslar, native of Worthington, Ohio, graduated from the Fort Hayes School of Music with the State Board of Education Award of Distinction for musical excellence, and obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from OSU in piano performance in 1993, under scholarship.

Carolyn Cline

Instruments Taught: Piano, Strings, Violin

Carolyn believes a successful teacher has patience, empathy, enjoyment, and encouragement. She understands each student is different with different needs and desires. She incorporates pieces and activities into the lessons that the students would prefer while still setting a standard for theory, ear training, and technique. She understands learning an instrument is a long and difficult process, and is there to help her students utilize however much time they can offer towards their instrument while maintaining their enjoyment.

Daniel Winfield

Instruments Taught: Piano, Strings

Daniel was a member of the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1996-2000 seasons, where he participated in two European tours, and an invitation to the International Festival of Youth Orchestras, as well as the orchestras’ first commercial recording of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony.

David Swank

Instruments Taught: Piano

A graduate of The Ohio State University School of Music (BM Jazz Studies, 2017), David has enjoyed an active professional career as a pianist in everything from the gospel music industry, musical theatre, the regional jazz scene, as well as dozens of local and national acts.

Dean Inboden

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Banjo

Dean is an experienced musician who has been playing guitar for over thirty five years. When Dean isn’t in the teaching studio, he can be found at Rome Recording where he has been an engineer and studio musician for over seventeen years.

Deanna Sweeney

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Voice, Ukulele

Deanna Sweeney has been a widely recognized name in the Central Ohio music community by both musicians and music fans alike for over 20 years.

Dr. Evan Lynch

Instruments Taught: Piano, Woodwinds, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone

Evan’s passion for music education drives him to teach clarinetists of all ages. Recent teaching experience includes a clarinet sabbatical replacement at The Ohio State University, and he is currently also teaching clarinet at Otterbein University. He has taught clarinet sectionals for many high school and middle school wind ensembles and band camps throughout Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio. He is also frequently requested to adjudicate high school solo and ensemble festivals, regional orchestra auditions, and honor band auditions.

Dr. Gaby Valladares

Instruments Taught: Piano, Woodwinds, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone

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.

Dylan Cole

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele

Dylan attended the Recording Workshop in Massieville, Ohio. Once he completed the CORE program he moved to Los Angeles to attend The Musicians Institute to study Guitar Performance and Audio Engineering.

Eryn Reynolds

Instruments Taught: Voice

Eryn Reynolds is a voice music lessons instructor specializing in Rock, Pop, Country and Musical Theatre styles.

Greg Sharp

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele, Banjo

Greg Sharp has been playing guitar for over 30 years, and has been a teacher of guitar and ukulele for more than 20 years. He has a wealth of live performance experience spanning many styles – rockabilly, surf, country, funk, blues, reggae, and metal are all a part of his live performance resume.

Jackson Neesley

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Piano

Jackson began his teaching career for guitar and piano in 2014 at various studios around the Columbus area. Jackson studied under multiple guitar instructors, including Andrew Hartman at Music Royale.

Jesse McNamara

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele, Bass

Jesse has played hundreds of gigs with many successful bands including 13 O’clock, X-Ray Specs, The Digs and The Moonbats as well as writing and recording music for nationally released video games and independent movies.

Jon Boley

Instruments Taught: Voice

Jon Boley was born and raised on the far east side of Columbus. He graduated from Walnut Ridge High School and was a member of the Ensemble under the direction of Mr. Phil Wallace.

Josh Newburry

Instruments Taught: Piano, Bass, Trumpet, Double Bass

Josh Newburry is a graduate of the acclaimed University of North Texas, and enjoys a full and varied career of musical excellence.

Josh Sheik

Instruments Taught: Drums

A seasoned drummer for over 30 years, Josh specializes in teaching all skill-levels, with students ranging in age from 4 to 74.

Kelly McLennan

Instruments Taught: Piano, Voice

Originally from Defiance, Ohio, Kelly McLennan holds a Bachelor of Arts – music education degree from Bowling Green State University. She has been professionally singing for 30+ years.

Larz Raymond

Instruments Taught: Drums

Larz is a graduate of Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, where he specialized in drums and percussion, with continued education at Berklee College of Music and Capital University

Lauren Edwards

Instruments Taught: Piano, Woodwinds, Brass, Flute, Trombone

Lauren Edwards recently earned her Master of Music degree from Ohio University, and attended Capital University Conservatory of Music for her Bachelor of Music degree. She believes spending quality time with students provides the opportunity to improve their focus, self-confidence, and expression, in addition to musical skills. She believes highlighting the unique aspects of each student is what makes her job special.

Max Button

Instruments Taught: Drums

Maxwell Button was born in Tenafly, a suburb of New York City in the northeastern corner of New Jersey. He began piano lessons at the age of six but switched to drum lessons before long.

Megan Wetzel

Instruments Taught: Piano, Strings, Violin, Viola

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

Nick Labita

Instruments Taught: Piano

Nick studied jazz piano at Capital University under the late and great Mark Flugge and graduated with a B.M. in Music Industry/Media. He is currently the bass and keyboard player for the Dirty Money Live Karaoke Band.

 

Paul Baker

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Piano, Strings, Ukulele, Bass, Double Bass

Primarily a bassist, Paul graduated from Otterbein University in Spring 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music – Jazz Studies Concentration.

Phil Smith

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Piano, Ukulele, Bass

From an early age Phil was exposed to a variety of musical instruments and styles. He grew up performing with family members who were professional musicians and quickly became proficient at drums, guitar, bass guitar and piano. As his musical skills progressed, he focused on guitar and his interests led to the study of music theory, music history and classical guitar.

Race Lerma

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Piano, Strings, Ukulele, Bass, Banjo, Violin

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.

Rachel Caserta

Instruments Taught: Strings, Violin, Viola, Cello

Rachel believes that students succeed when they are empowered to explore music that they are passionate about. Her focus is to help students build the skills they need to achieve their goals.

Rob Cave

Instruments Taught: Piano

Rob Cave has been playing classical piano since the age of four, and studied piano performance under Juilliard graduate W. Eugene Hudson at Jacksonville University.

Ron Brzoska

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele

Ron Brzoska was born and raised in Cleveland, OH, but began his music career while attending The Ohio State University, where he graduated with a business degree.  Ron has been active in the Columbus music scene since 1991 and has played in multiple bands, most notable the Americana band, the Troubled Souls.

Ryan Craycroft

Instruments Taught: Guitar

Sara McCluskey

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele

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.

Scott Gorsuch

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Ukulele, Bass, Sound Engineering

Scott has been playing guitar for over 40 years. A bit of a mad scientist– he also builds his own guitars and amps, has a background in pipe organ building, and is a recording engineer at Musicol Recording Studio.

Seth Daily

Instruments Taught: Drums

Seth Daily has been playing percussion since he was five years when he played snare drum with a community orchestra. Seth also studied percussion at Music Royale and participated in Music Royale’s very first Rock School session.

Sydney McSweeney

Instruments Taught: Piano, Voice

Sydney McSweeney is a vocalist from Columbus, Ohio who at a young age developed a deep love of music. That love directed her to Otterbein University where she studied classical voice and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in music.

Thane Leshner

Instruments Taught: Guitar, Piano, Voice, Ukulele, Bass

Thane Leshner is a Columbus-born guitarist and vocalist who began playing in 2005. He graduated from Capital University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music where he participated in choir and the school rock ensemble.

Tim Perdue

Instruments Taught: Brass, Trombone, Trumpet, Baritone/Euphonium, French Horn

Tim Perdue received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the Conservatory of Music at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio in 1991, and has since been teaching privately in the Columbus area.

Troy Kunkler

Instruments Taught: Piano, Drums

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.

Veronica Nickerson

Instruments Taught: Piano, Woodwinds

Veronica works with each student to create manageable and achievable goals that build their confidence and feel successful.

Monday - Thursday: 12pm - 8pm

Friday: 12pm - 6pm

Saturday: 10am - 5pm

Sunday: 12pm - 5pm

480 West Olentangy Street
Powell, OH 43065

(614)793-2222