Nicole Arendt – Kindermusik (preschool music program for 0 – 5yrs olds)
Nicole Arendt is a licensed Kindermusik educator and a Suzuki piano teacher. She received her Kindermusik training in Victoria and Edmonton and her Suzuki training in Pittsburgh. Nicole also has a Bachelor of Music (University of Alberta) and a Master of Music (University of Victoria) in percussion performance. She has performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the Victoria Symphony, and presently plays with the Vancouver Island and Okanagan Symphony Orchestras. Nicole also performs as a recitalist and a chamber musician and has performed concerti with the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra and the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a founding member of the Tan Trio along with Chris Helman (saxophone) and Trish Clair Peck (violin).
Nicole is passionate about sharing her love of music with others and has taught piano, percussion, and Kindermusik extensively in Alberta and British Columbia.
To learn more about Kindermusik, visit www.kindermusik.com and http://kindermusiknanaimo.blogspot.com.
Teresa Marusarz-Borek – Piano, Theory
Born and raised in Poland, Teresa began her piano studies at the age of six and later on obtained a Master of Music degree in Piano and Theory from the K. Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. Following graduation, Teresa enjoyed a varied and successful career in Poland, first as a piano coach and accompanist at the Silesian Opera House. After 2 years with the Opera, she joined the Silesian Philharmonic and, as a member of the orchestra, she performed and toured across Europe. Later, she held the position of Programme Director for the orchestra. After moving to Canada in 1985, Teresa obtained a Teaching Diploma at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and, in 1989, she started teaching in her private studio. In 1997, she joined the faculty of the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music as a piano and theory teacher. She has also been a piano instructor and accompanist at Vancouver Island University since 1998.
Teresa has vast experience in teaching piano students of all ages, from beginner to advanced levels, offering a classical music program allowing her students to participate in the internationally-recognized Certificate Program of the Royal Conservatory of Music, as well as contemporary and popular styles. She also teaches theory classes, including all levels of Rudiments, History, Harmony and Analysis.
Teresa is a member of the B.C. Registered Music Teachers Association and F. Chopin Society.
Teighan Couch – Jazz Program, Voice
Originally from Ottawa, ON, Teighan moved to Nanaimo with dreams of becoming a vocalist under the inspiration of her favourite jazz artists Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie and the Oscar Peterson Trio. She is currently studying in her last year of her Bachelor of Music at Vancouver Island University and has taken a keen interest in jazz studies and vocal improvisation. She can be seen performing at venues like the Port Theatre, the Vault Cafe and the Flying Canoe. She is a powerful, soulful vocalist with a knack for scat and devoted love for the healing power of song. She is excited to share her ardent knowledge of music and voice with her students.
Kosma Busheikin – Jazz Program, Guitar and Bass
Born in the Czech Republic, Kosma moved with his parents to the small island of Denman when he was two years old. When he was 16 he had an idea to take lessons with local songwriter Kevin Mitchell. This marked the beginning of his passion for playing and teaching music. After a couple of years of lessons, Kosma began performing at small events around town and began to consider a career in music. After taking some lessons with VIU alumni Marc Atkinson (Juno nominated, multi-instrumentalist, gypsy jazz guitar) he felt encouraged to enroll in VIU’s jazz program. In what felt like no time, Kosma had completed the 4-year program and began working to establish himself in the Nanaimomusic community, Kosma is still avidly pursuing music, with jazz as a specialty. He has performed at venues around the island such as Hermanns jazz club, Frankies jazz club, the Port theatre, Tofino Jazz festival, Hornby Island festival and more. Some notable people he has studied with include Ken Lister, Lee Ellefson, Pat Coleman, John Lee, Hans Verhoeven, and Ben Henriques. Kosma has also enjoyed teaching privately on guitar and upright bass for a variety of ages and skill levels. Kosma is excited to join the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music to share his knowledge and love of music.
Mary Jackson – Piano, Suzuki Piano, Voice
Mary Jackson began her piano studies at the age of five in Ladysmith. At seventeen, she moved to Victoria to study with Robin Wood at the University of Victoria, earning her Bachelor of Music degree with Distinction, followed by her ARCT in Piano Performance with First Class Honours.
As a Suzuki Method specialist, Mary studied and instructed at Suzuki workshops and summer schools in Canada, the United States and Japan, and became a teacher trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Mary studied Voice at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where she earned her AVCM diploma in Voice Pedagogy, with Distinction. Besides teaching solo singing, she has directed choirs, sung with opera and musical theatre companies in Victoria, Kelowna and Kamloops, and coached children’s choruses for Pacific Opera Victoria and Viva Musica (Kelowna).
Over the years, several of her former students have successfully embraced music as a profession, but Mary loves to work with people of all ages and abilities, and her deepest satisfaction comes from helping students with less obvious gifts explore potential they didn’t know they had.
Leslie Krull – Violin
Leslie studied with John Chlumecky through the Vancouver Academy of Music before moving to Gabriola Island in 1979 where she studied with Heilwig von Koenigsloew at the Central Vancouver Island Community Music School, now the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. Leslie played a number of years with both the Nanaimo Symphony Orchestra and the Mount Benson Philharmonic, before becoming a member of the Vancouver Island Symphony for seven years, where, in addition to her musical role, she acted as librarian and board member.
Recently, Leslie has held the principal second violin seat in the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra and is principal violinist with Trio Chocolat. Having taught for eighteen years, Leslie has entered many students in the Upper Island Music Festival with great results and is excited to expand her teaching practice to include Suzuki Method at the Conservatory.
Amy Laing – Cello, Suzuki Cello
Originally from Nanaimo, Amy earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the HARIDConservatory in Boca Raton Florida, and her Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Prior to the shakeup of 2020, Amy was enjoying her first season as Principal cellist in the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ontario. She played regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the Windsor Symphony, Niagara Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, and also held a six-month contract with Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax. In 2011/12 Amy served as acting principal cello in the Victoria Symphony and taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and again joined the orchestra playing principal cello for the second part of their 2016 season.
Amy is an active chamber musician and was a member of the Madawaska String Quartet, specializing in the performance and cultivation of contemporary works. Amy has also been the solo cellist in numerous top musical theatre productions in Toronto, including Dear Evan Hansen, Matilda, Kinky Boots, The Sound of Music, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King and most recently Broadway’s smash hit “Hamilton”.
Beyond the strictly classical music genre, Amy has worked with Toronto’s Art of Time Ensemble, SoulPepper Theatre Company, Toronto Dance Theatre, the Stratford Festival and Music in the Barns. She has performed or recorded with leading artists including Stevie Wonder, Blue Rodeo, Jesse Cook, The Barenaked Ladies, Jim Cuddy, Steven Page, Sarah Slean, Molly Johnson, Royal Wood, Amelia Curran, Donovan Woods, and played a Canadian tour with Blue Rodeo including a performance at the JUNO’s.
Amy has played in music festivals around the world including the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and in Charleston, The National Orchestral Institute, the Banff Arts Festival, Musica Nel Chiostro in Tuscany, Cork Opera Festival Ireland, COSI festival in Italy, the Northern Lights Festival in Ajijic Mexico, Festival of Sound in Parry Sound, the Phil Dywer Music Festival in Qualicum BC, Salt Spring Chamber Music Festival, Tafelmusik’s Winter Institute, and also toured China with her cello quartet.
Amy is happy to be back on Vancouver Island again, making a home near Nanaimo with her husband and two sons. She is thrilled to be joining the faculty at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. Amy is a qualified Suzuki teacher but also teaches in a varied style which draws from the various pedagogues and musical influences in her life, she loves to teach students of all ages.
Alex Lee – Cello, Suzuki Cello, Cello Choir
Newly arrived to the city of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, cellist Alexandra Lee joins as an instructor at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. She brings along her family: Nicholas Ross (violinist and trumpet player) and their two young children.
Alexandra leaves behind her position of Principal Cellist of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, as well as students of her own, in Sudbury Ontario. She will be taking over the cello studio of Hannah Wilson, a cellist at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music, and a professor at Vancouver Island University. “I happened to meet Hannah Wilson’s mother Jane when I was teaching chamber music with the Silver Birch String Quartet at a Quebec summer music camp. It was the last contract that my quartet was doing and Jane casually asked me, ‘Are you interested in teaching cello in Nanaimo?’ Alexandra remembers, “I was surprised and intrigued! I did some more research and submitted my resumé, and, to make a long story short, here I am!”
In inheriting Hannah Wilson’s cello studio, Alexandra will be teaching a wide range of ages and levels, from preschool age to retirees, as well as directing a cello choir. Teaching strategies include the renowned Suzuki method, based on the “mother-tongue” method of teaching young children. Group classes and monthly “Cello Café” are also planned for the future. We may even see her latest community arts project “Cello Steps” for cello and dancemob, or her programming for young children “Contes d’un violoncelle” / “Cello Tales” in French or English. “I like bringing the cello to people in creative ways,” says Alexandra, “It is especially a joy to introduce the instrument to young children. They are so entranced by the sound of the cello, and they teach me how to listen with new ears.”
Though the teaching position at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music has allowed her the opportunity to relocate across the country, Alexandra admits that family was a big part of their decision. “My parents are here on Vancouver Island, and my sister lives just across on the mainland. Now that I have young children of my own, I have felt an ever stronger urge to be closer to them,” Alexandra says, “I feel lucky to be given the opportunity to teach at the Nanaimo Conservatory, and excited to be relocating closer to my family here in British Columbia.” Her two young children are already bonding with their grandparents, and enjoying the delights of life by the sea. “My eldest has taken the Twinkle melody and changed the lyrics to list the names of all the whales,” Alexandra says, “so needless to say, they are loving it out here!”
Jennifer Lehtovaara – Piano
Jenn has been teaching piano since the age of sixteen. She holds a degree in Music Education from The University of Western Ontario with a specialty in percussion. She also holds a Bachelor of Education from the same institution. In her professional career, she has worked in both the public education system and in private studio settings. She taught Music in the Halifax Regional School Board for eight years while also working as a piano teacher at the Fall River Performing Arts school in Fall River, NS. In 2011 she was certified as a Kindermusik educator and was mentored by Louise MacDonald of Joyful Sounds Music in Fall River, NS.
Upon moving to Nanaimo, Jenn taught both private lessons from her home and worked as a Music Teacher in SD68 for eight years. She has been a proud member of The Nanaimo Concert Band since 2018. Jenn loves working with students and believes strongly that music lessons should be a fun experience that students should look forward to every week!
Jesse Marshall – Guitar
Jesse is a guitarist, composer, and educator from Nanaimo B.C.
Active as a freelance guitarist since 2013, recent highlights include performances at the 2022 Nanaimo Jazz Festival, 2022 Nanaimo Guitar Showcase, and 2023 Island Notes Chamber Music Festival.
As a composer and arranger, Jesse has written for a wide variety of ensembles at the secondary and post-secondary levels. His composition “Summer’s Over” was featured on the University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra’s 2020 album, Embargo, Which received 4 stars from All About Jazz.
Jesse holds a Master of Music from the University of Toronto, B. Mus. and B. Ed. degrees from Vancouver Island University, and an ARCT in Guitar Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He studied guitar with Rob MacDonald
(UofT), Dr. Leonardo Munoz (University of La Serena, Chile), and Dr. Alexander Dunn(UVic)
Jesse also teaches guitar at Vancouver Island University and is a volunteer coach at the Nanaimo Judo Club.
Miho Matsuo – Violin, Suzuki Violin
Miho Matsuo was born and raised in BC and began violin lessons at the age of 5. Her passion for meeting others through music and playing in small ensembles with friends led her to pursue her Bachelor of Music at the University of Victoria. After understanding the significance of early music education and parent involvement through hands-on experience, Miho moved to Connecticut where she completed her Master of Music in Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy at the Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford. She received her Books 1-8 training with Linda Fiore and Teri Einfeldt, while observing the Hartt School faculty and other visiting Suzuki teacher trainers from across the US.
In addition to early education, Miho spent a year in Boston, MA, studying music therapy and psychology, while observing the therapeutic benefits of music in various settings such as hospitals, educational institutions, and care homes. Since returning home, Miho has been enthusiastically involved with teaching students, working alongside parents, and coaching small ensembles. She has been involved with the Suzuki programs at the Prince George Conservatory of Music, Western Washington University, Douglas College & Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music.
With over 20 years of teaching, coaching & performing experience, Miho continues to inspire the young and the ‘never too old’ and is often found celebrating their accomplishments along the way. On her days off she enjoys offering acupressure & yoga sessions for her clients and rock climbing outdoors.
Brendan Millbank – Cello
Brendan Millbank has studied and performed cello for over twenty years, receiving his formal training abroad, while attending music schools in countries such as Great Britain, Holland, and the United States. In addition to his formal training, Brendan has participated in numerous string programs, including the Indiana String Academy, The Colbourn School of Music, and the Banff Centre for the Arts, and has been involved in master classes with, among others, Yo-Yo Ma, Janos Stalker, and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.
Having studied with an assortment of internationally-acclaimed teachers, including Joan Dickson from the Royal Academy of Music, Ronald Leonard of USC, Pamela Highbaugh-Aloni of UVIC and Dmitri Ferschtman of the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, Brendan brings a wealth of knowledge to his students. His teaching encompasses basic technique, posture, and playing for beginners, as well as tuition in theory, musicality, and performance, for intermediate to more advanced talents.
Natasha (Nataliya) Pashchenko – Guitar, Suzuki Guitar, Guitar Group
Natasha began her music studies in Russia and graduated with a diploma in piano at the age of sixteen. In 2003 she moved to Vancouver and pursued Linguistics as her field of study at the University of British Columbia. After a post-university career in a corporate environment, Natasha returned to music as a life path and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Guitar Performance at the University of Victoria.
Natasha has taught music privately since 2008. She welcomes all ages and levels and believes in each student’s learning ability, creativity, and potential for expression. Natasha is continuing her teacher training through the Suzuki Institute and is a certified Suzuki Guitar instructor.
An eager music enthusiast, Natasha has been involved in various performance and education projects. In the past two years, she has been a classical guitar ambassador through the Victoria Guitar Society, a local non-profit organization.
Judith Pazder – Flute, Recorder, Flute Quartet, Recorder Troupe
Judith Pazder graduated from Dalhousie University and is currently on faculty at the Nanaimo Conservatory of music Judith has been the director of the Academy Flute Choir in Victoria for over 10 years. She is an active performer, composer, and arranger. Judith is also an active recorder player involved in recorder teaching, study and performance.
Karl Rainer – Violin, Suzuki Violin,Viola
Karl studied violin with Karoly Sziladi and Joseph Berljawski. He is currently the Music Director and concertmaster of the Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra, and was a founding member of the Waterloo Chamber Players. His orchestral experience includes the KW Chamber Orchestra, the Guelph Chamber Orchestra and the Waterloo Chamber Players, among many others, in addition to performing in many musicals. Karl also currently plays, on occasion, with the Vancouver Island Symphony.
His concert chamber music appearances include the Leith String Quartet and the Nero String Quartet, among others. Since moving to Nanaimo in 2005, Karl has completed a Bachelor of Education degree from Vancouver Island University, and acquired certification as a Suzuki violin teacher.
Nico Rhodes – Jazz Program, Piano, Saxophone
Born in Vancouver in 1989, Nico was raised on the road, touring with his parents and a quartet of musicians who nurtured his musical upbringing ‘by osmosis’. By the age of 16, he had won several classical piano and jazz saxophone competitions. At 17, he was introduced to musical theatre and he has since directed, arranged and/or composed for more than 40 stage productions across Canada.
At the age of 25, he orchestrated two symphonic shows, one being his Mother, Joelle Rabu’s nationally treasured musical drama ‘Tonight…Piaf’. Praises include Jessie and Ovation Theatre Award nominations for innovative music direction in Vancouver’s theatre community and Nanaimo’s Emerging Cultural Leader Award. His career also includes performing with songstress Joelle Rabu, his Mother and being the other half of Roots & Grooves with the iconic Rick Scott.
Nico is currently composing the music for the epic Off the Beaten Path musical: An International multi-platform theatrical experience like no other. He has also created a solo piano concert series The Art of Ragtime, featuring the many treasured songs and fascinating stories of the Ragtime era.
Nico is sought after as a music director, composer and arranger of musical theatre, orchestral and choral works. One of his dreams is to create several community choirs, each celebrating life’s many diverse ages, genders and abilities while promoting inclusivity for all. He is also a devotee of the Elders’ community; fundraising, knitting, playing for them in support of Mental Health Awareness.
Nico has decided to settle down and he wants to give back to the Nanaimo community, which helped him to get where he is today. He has a family of his own, and his mother who lives in Nanaimo as well. Going on four-month or longer, tours are no longer in his plans.
Nicholas Ross – Violin, Suzuki Violin, Beginning Brass, Youth Orchestra
A native of Ottawa, Nicholas Ross studied both violin and trumpet at the University of Ottawa with John Gomez and Pace Sturdevant respectively. He has extensive professional experience as a member of a number of Canadian orchestras, including the Thunder Bay Symphony, the Ottawa Symphony, Orchestre symphonique de Laval, Charlottetown Festival Orchestra, Sudbury Symphony (Principal Second Violin) and the North Bay Symphony (as Principal Second Violin and Acting Concertmaster). He performs on a violin made in Toronto by Masa Inokuchi.
Nicholas has taught trumpet and violin both privately and at such institutions as Camp Lanaudière, the National Capital Music Academy, École secondaire De La Salle and Cambrian College; and has been a sectional coach for the Ottawa and Thunder Bay Youth Orchestras. He has also been sought after as an adjudicator in Ottawa, Sudbury, and across Northern Ontario. He was an instructor at the Sudbury Symphony Conservatory, and he recently he presented a lecture recital on the violin at Laurentian University. He is trained as a Violin Instructor in the Suzuki Method.
Having appeared often as a chamber musician, he has performed in the Timmins Symphony Chamber Series, Thunder Bay’s “Beethoven Festival 2000”, the Sudbury Symphony’s Chamber Series, the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, and with the Silver Birch String Quartet. Some recent concert appearances in Sudbury have been: as a violinist in the Silver Birch Concert Series; as violin soloist with the Elmer Iseler Singers; and in Jane Russell’s Pop-Up Concert Series.
For the 2015-17 seasons, Nicholas was the Music Director of the Sudbury Chamber Singers. Throughout his musical career he has been involved with vocal ensembles: Calixa-Lavallée Chamber Choir; Octatonic Decandence (Sudbury) to name a couple. He has also conducted choral ensembles such as the National Capital Music Academy Choir, the To•ne Chamber Choir (Thunder Bay) and, most recently, Corvus (Sudbury).
Now proud to make Nanaimo his home, he is looking forward to being a part of its vibrant music community.
Marilyn Rummel – Harp, Elements of Music, Advance Harp Studio, Harp Studio A
Marilyn Rummel teaches lever harp to both children and adults at the Conservatory. Students study traditional Celtic styles of harping, classical techniques and music, and traditional tunes from around the world. She has played harp for 35 years, and has studied with some of the finest harpists on the continent and in South America. Exams may be taken up to the grade 10 level. Marilyn has taught band and choir at the elementary and secondary levels, and regularly teaches her Elements of Music classes, providing theory and musicianship training through movement and singing (and no paper!) which is heavily influenced by the work of Dalcrose, Zoltan Kodaly, and Mary Helen Richards. Marilyn also leads group classes for harps for both kids and adults. It’s not too late to learn–and it’s never too early to begin–to play this magical instrument.
Katrina Russell – Bassoon
Born and raised in Edmonton, Katrina Russell obtained her Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the University of Victoria. Further studies took her to Toronto, Banff, and then to Boston, Massachusetts, where she attended the New England Conservatory of Music. There she was able to pursue her interest in the Baroque bassoon, and was granted a Graduate Diploma Historical Performance with distinction in performance.
Armed only with a handful of bassoons and a desire to play them, Katrina moved to London, England, where she was lucky enough to spend eighteen years playing them (as well as several others that presented themselves along the way). Specializing in historical performance, she played and recorded with many of the period instrument ensembles in Britain and Europe, including the English Concert, the King’s Consort, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Hanover Band, the Gabrieli Consort and Players, L’Orchestre de la Champs Elysees, the Orchestra of “The Sixteen”, and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.
After several years of return visits to Canada to play with Early Music Vancouver ensembles and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Katrina and her husband (British horn player Andrew Clark) relocated to the West Coast in late 2010, and are currently establishing themselves near Ladysmith, where they are also setting up a specialty brass-making workshop, producing horns and trumpets.
Marian Smith – Nanaimo Youth Choir, Mezzo Choir
Since the age of four, Marian Smith has pursued a life in music. She came to Nanaimo in 1991 from Calgary, where she had been professionally involved for more than twenty years as an accompanist of choirs who toured and competed in many international festivals. She also taught piano, and had positions as an organist and choir director.
In 1992, she founded the Nanaimo Youth Choir program as part of the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. Since then, she has seen it grow and receive awards and invitations to many events on the Island and throughout BC and Alberta. Besides teaching voice and conducting a community choir for adults, Marian is also a clinician for children’s choir events. Her choirs and students have been consistent winners in local festivals and have been recommended to compete in the BC Festival of the Arts. In addition to the above, Marian also works as an organist and an accompanist by request.
Shante van Horlick – Vocals
Shante began her singing journey at the age of seven, She has performed on stages across the Lower Mainland, USA, Czech Republic and Spain. Shante graduated from the UBC Opera program in 2016 and has been working as a professional opera singer ever since. Shante has performed with notable opera companies such as the Vancouver Opera Company, Herioc Opera Company, Burnaby Lyric Opera and Opera Mariposa. Some of her most recent and favourite Roles have been Mercedes in Burnaby Lyric Opera’s production of Carmen, Siegrune in Heroic Opera’s production of Wagner’s Die Walkure and the lovable character Dorabella in Opera Mariposa’s “Cosi Fan Tutte”!
Alongside her growing singing career, Shante discovered a passion and love of teaching. Shante has been teaching voice at
conservatories and music schools since 2015 and has experience working with students of all ages and genres. Shante also has led many voice summer camps and musical theatre groups.
Since moving to Nanaimo in 2020, Shante has performed with island musical organizations such as the Oceanside Concert Choir as a soloist in their Handel’s Messiah as well as with the Strathcona Symphony Orchestra in an Opera Highlights concert. In Nanaimo, Shante has joined Opera Nanaimo as a performer and as a board member. She hopes to help build opportunities to showcase Opera and beautiful singing in Nanaimo and continue to build connections within the island music community.
Graham Villette – Jazz Program – Drums
Graham has been studying the drums for over a decade and playing music
professionally since the age of 15. With over 7 years of teaching experience, Graham has taught drummers from ages 5 to 75 and can help any level of a musician from beginner to advance develop their skills. Graham teaches many styles of music but
focuses on jazz and the many facets of musicianship that come with it like reading music, notating music, ear training, improvisation and much more
Most recently Graham earned a Masters’s Degree in Jazz Performance from The University of Toronto and before that completed a BA in Jazz Studies at Vancouver Island University in 2017. Having grown up on Vancouver Island Graham has
become an active member of the music community as both a freelance musician and bandleader. Over the years Graham has had the great fortune to perform with some of the best musicians around including Cory Weeds, Joe Magnarelli, Akiko Tsuruga, Tony Genge, Ryan Oliver, John Lee, Rick Kilburn, Ashley Wey, and Kinga Hemming.
He has been lucky enough to work in local bands like the NMA Big Band, under the direction of Bryan Stovell, the NOLA Nighthawks, under the direction of Andrew Homzy, and prevalently the John Lee Trio.