"Fostering a Love of Music"
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Guitar Teachers
Piano Teachers
Vocal Teachers
Woodwind/Brasswind
String Teachers
Drums/Percussion
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| Guitar Teachers | |
| Jon Minei made his concert debut at the Mirabelle Palace in Salzburg, Austria at the age of 19 years old. He holds a Master's Degree from the University of Southern California in classical guitar where he studied with renowned Grammy Award winning artist, William Kanengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. He has performed solo and ensemble recitals throughout the west coast and in Japan to great acclaim. David Nichols of the Los Angeles Times calls his playing "Superb." The late Polly Warfield of Backstage West described his playing as "plangent strains of enchantment." Jon is also an adjunct professor of guitar at El Camino College in Torrance. Jon teaches classical guitar as well as praise and worship music. Availability: None |
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Takahito Mori |
Taka Mori began his music career in Tokyo, Japan. His primary teacher was renowned jazz guitarist Yasumasa Suzuki. In 1995 he graduated from AN Music School in Tokyo. He is featured on recordings with top performing artists in Japan such as, Ripslyme (hip-hop), Ann Sally (jazz singer) and Noon (jazz singer). He has performed with jazz Titans, Azar Lawrence (Miles Davis/McCoy Tyner), Jeff Littleton (bassist-Herbie Hancock trio), Harvey Mason (drummer-Herbie Hancock), Byron Miller (Santana), Gerry Brown (Stevie Wonder, George Benson), Danny Yamamoto(Hiroshima) and Onaje Murray. He was invited to the Desert City Jazz Band in Palm Springs as a featured soloist. On the first Sundays of the month, Taka can be heard playing in the house band at Hal's in Venice, CA. As a gifted guitar teacher, Mr. Mori enjoys teaching rock, blues, jazz and R&B. He also plays Gospel music every Sunday at Second Mount Carmel Church band in Los Angeles. He is comfortable teaching both young children and adults in all levels. He is also fluent in both English and Japanese. Availability: Mondays |
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Kim Cuda is a Los Angeles-based guitarist who has been composing and producing for teleision, film and national commercials (radio and TV). A studio guitar player for many years, Kim uses his versatility by composing in many different styles of music. From the beautiful acoustic slide guitar heard on Ken Burn's Emmy award-winning documentary "Unforgivable Blackness," to the hard-edge driving rock guitar on the Golf Channel's Monday Night Lights. Kim is a very committed and highly knowlegeable guitar teacher. He works well with kids and adults. As a guitar teacher in high demand, his main focus is on the rock/blues repertoire but is also committed to teaching music fundamentals to beginners including reading and developing a thorough knowledge of chord vocabularies. Availability: Wednesdays and Thursdays |
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Ori Huberman, originally from Israel, is a phenomenal guitar teacher with insights into the rock genre. Ori received his music education from Musician's Institute in Hollywood, CA. An active performer, Ori performs frequently with various cover bands in the LA area spaning music of The Beatles, Heart, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, and much more. He is also an avid fingerstyle guitarist and is well versed in many American traditional guitar stylings of Chet Atkins and Laurence Juber. Availability: Various |
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Molly Miller
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Molly Miller has received her music education from the University of Southern California's nationally recognized studio guitar program where she has been trained on all styles of guitar playing including: Jazz, rock, classical, flamenco, fusion, pop and country. Molly is a tremendously gifted guitar teacher and performer. She firmly believes in teaching fundamentals of music (note reading and basic chord vocabulary) to beginners and is able to teach improvisation and solo guitar styles to intermediate and advanced guitar students. Availability: Tuesday Evenings |
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Christopher Spilsbury has been involved with music for the better part of the last 20 years. During high school he joined the jazz band and was enticed to develop the improvisational and practical skills to perform in a creative and structured environment. Chris won several awards as best soloist in several jazz festivals including CSU, USC, and the Colorado all state jazz band. Chris was awarded a scholarship through the Colorado Youth Pops Orchestra and continued his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston. While in Boston Chris had the opportunity to study with some great great musicians including Wayne Krantz, Tal Farlow, Mick Goodrick and many others. Availability: Saturday Mornings |
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Yoshiaki Kojima received his Masters of Music in studio guitar performance from the University of Southern California. He studied jazz guitar with bebop jazz legend Joe Diorio and classical guitar with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet member Scott Tennant. Mr. Kojima has attended numerous master classes, including those held by Jim Hall, Pat Martino, Tuck Andress, Eliot Fisk, Manuel Barrueco and Pepe Romero. While attending the Master’s Program at USC, Mr. Kojima taught private lessons and group guitar classes to both music and non-music majors. Mr. Kojima has performed in and toured over thirty states with a variety of musical groups. Mr. Kojima’s musical interest includes a wide variety of music, and he especially loves blues, rock, jazz and classical music. Availability: None |
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Anna Perez is currently finishing her degree in Classical and Flamenco guitar at the prestigious Cal Arts in Valencia, CA. As a long time guitar teacher at Opus Music, she enjoyes teaching rock and other popular styles in addition to her specialized fields of classical and flamenco guitar. |
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Christopher Peterson, orinigally from Seattle, WA, received his Jazz guitar and arranging training from the renowned Berklee College of Music on Boston, MA. He has been active in the Los Angeles area as a guitarist, copyist, arranger and guitar teacher. He is currently in process of completing his music education credential and is teaching middle school music at the Triumph Academy and Nueva Esperanza Academy in Ventura County. Availability: None |
| Piano Teachers | |
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Yazmine C. Fleming, a native of Southern California,received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in keyboard studies at the California Institute of the Arts. She completed her Masters of Music in piano at Kent State University in Ohio, where she was granted an assistantship in teaching and choral accompaniment.She taught college classes ranging from private piano instruction to class piano for music majors and non-music majors. While competing in the mid-west,she won first place in the OFMC (Ohio Federation of Music Clubs) young artist awards. She was also awarded second place in the national competition,The Richardson Awards-Piano Division, held in Michigan in 2002. Ms. Fleming is a current member of the Los Angeles chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon. She is also a member of the Dominant club, a prestigious honorary society (based in Los Angeles for over one hundred years) that is devoted to professional women in music. Ms. Fleming returned to Los Angeles in 2004 to continue a career in teaching and performance, demonstrating versatility in her musical skills. She is on faculty for the vocal production studio at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in West Hollywood,working as an accompanist. She has given solo recitals throughout the Los Angeles area. As a member of the MTAC (Music Teacher's Association of California), the students of her studio are invited to study for the CM (Certificate of Merit) examinations, conventions and competitions. Ms. Fleming is also directing the Certificate of Merit Theory classes currently available at Opus Music. Availability: None |
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Born in Tokyo, Japan, Ms. Ando started playing the piano at the age of four. Upon receiving a degree in music at Tokyo Junshin College, she moved to Los Angeles, where she continues her studies. She has participated in festivals in Tokyo, New York, and Stockholm, and made special guest appearances in concerts around California. Ms. Ando is currently studying at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California studying piano performance. Her goal is to obtain her doctoral degree in music (DMA) and to teach piano at the college level. As a long time piano teacher at Opus Music, Ms. Ando enjoys teaching beginning through advanced students of all ages. Her youngest piano student is four years old. She is also fluent in Japanese and English. Availability: Thursday and Friday evenings |
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Charlie Christenson, a native of the Midwest, received his Bachelors of Music in Education from Lawrence University. There, Charlie performed with many diverse musical ensembles, including the Concert Choir, Jazz Band, Jazz Small Ensembles, Jazz Singers, as well as his own trio, and was a founding member of the student-run salsa group, Vale Todo. In 2005, while still at LU, Christenson was recognized by DOWNBEAT Magazine as the Outstanding College Jazz Vocalist.
After a stint teaching music in the Chicago Public School system, Charlie moved to the Upper West Side of New York City to continue his education at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. After receiving his Masters of Music in Jazz Performance, Christenson went on to work and teach at MSM in the Young People’s Division. During this time he also had the opportunity to perform with such greats as the New York Voices, Kurt Elling, and Eliane Elias in many venues including the Corniela St. Cafe, Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and the world-famous Birdland.
Christenson has recently moved to the state of California where he continues to pursue life and music - not necessarily in that order. Charlie is a very gifted and charismatic piano teacher.
Availability: Mondays & Tuesdays |
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Francisco "Pancho" Burgos hails from Madrid, Spain. He attended the Royal Conservatory in Madrid before immigrating to the US to complete his BM in composition at Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA. He actively works on major movie and television projects (Jericho (seasons 1 and 2), Cane (with Jimmy Smits), the Cheetah Girls 3, High-school Musical 2 and 3, Disney Christmas movies and MTV musicals to name a few. Pancho teaches piano (jazz/classical) as well as composition and theory at Opus Music. |
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Mr. Yamazaki began taking piano lessons at four years of age and went on to attend music studies at Toho School in Tokyo, where he studied music theory, chorus and piano. He also began taking pipe organ lessons during high school in New York. Mr. Yamazaki was the winner of the Bennington County Choral Society Competition in 1992 and 1993. He entered Julliard School majoring in pipe organ from 1993 to 1994 while continuing to study the harpsichord and duo piano at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music from 1994 through 1996. |
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Sharon Giarratano is a fourth generation musician, born and raised in New Orleans. With over ten years of experience as a professional vocalist in the areas of jazz, rock, pop, world and experimental music, she has performed with notable musicians including: legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, and arranger/producer/keyboardist Michael Bacich of Oingo Boingo. She has studied with vocal master Gloria Bennett, jazz arranger/vocalist Michelle Weir and pop voice teacher Andrew Boettner. Obtaining arts scholarships along the way, she received a B.A. in Ethnomusicology from the prestigious School of Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles; and received an AA in Commercial Music Performance from Long Beach City College. She loves working with children and curently teaches early music education and voice at Opus Music. Availability: Wednesday evenings |
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Hiroki Konno is a Japanese vocal teacher in very high demand all over the Los Angeles area. He has tremendous range to be able to sing French chansons, jazz standards to popular music of Japan. His teaching techniques include a thorough examination of the physical mechanisms that control the voice as well as various innovative exercises to help expand your vocal range, improve tone and intonation. Availability: Saturday Mornings (Japanese speaking only) |
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Glen Kamida has been teaching in public schools and teaching private clarinet lessons for over 20 years. For the past 15+ years, he has taught both Middle and Elementary schools for the Torrance Unified School District. A five time PTA Honorary Service Award recipient, Glen has gone beyond the "call of duty" by organizing fund raising concerts, having his Elementary Schools participate in the Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade, and most recently starting a string non-profit string ensemble program in the North Torrance area (NTYME). |
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Emily Noble
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Emily Noble received her Masters degree in music at the University of California, Santa Barbara. There, she was actively performing with and Irish music ensemble called Dannsaire. |
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Rumi Patterson has and impressive educational and performing background. She has studied in elite institutions throughout Japan, Austria and the US. She started at the Kyoto City music highschool, then was a student of the Vienna National Music University and she participated California Brazil Camp (a Brazillian jazz intensive seminar) to name a few. Ms. Patterson currently studies jazz Cal State Los Angeles with renowned jazz flautist and pedagogue Danilo Lozano. |
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Grace Mehm holds a Bachelor's degree in oboe performance from the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. While there she studied with oboist Humbert Lucarelli and was a longtime member of the Cheshire Symphony Orchestra. Upon successful completion of her thesis, Grace will also hold a Master's degree in oboe performance from the Cole Conservatory of Music of California State University, Long Beach. At the Cole Conservatory she had the privilege of studying oboe and english horn with Carolyn Hove. Grace is a very friendly oboe teacher who enjoys working with students of varying ages and skill level. In addition to teaching oboe privately, she also enjoys teaching groups and ensembles. She has given workshops on oboe playing and reedmaking at various institutions in Los Angeles. |
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Alfonso Pimentel |
Alfonso Manuel Pimentel Garcia was born in Mexico City. At the time that he started his formal musical studies at El Camino College he had picked up other instruments along the way that were not in the woodwind family such as Euphonium, Trombone, and Tuba. His primary instructor is renowned jazz saxophonist, Ann Patterson. A versatile musician, Mr. Pimentel has had the pleasure to work in a variety of musicals where he has been able to show his range by being featured on saxophone, flute and clarinet. Mr. Pimentel enjoys teaching children and adults of all ages and levels. He has had experience teaching both classical and jazz. He currently teaches Saxophone and Clarinet at Opus Music. Availability: Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays |
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Kevin Miller holds a Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance with an emphasis in Musicology from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at the California State University, Long Beach. A native of Arizona, Kevin has been teaching music for over 13 years. He is experienced in private instruction as well as College level courses. Kevin moved to Southern California in 2003 and while teaching in several premier music schools he developed a holistic teaching style called "The Grammar of Music".
His innovative method focuses not only on playing the on the page but also on style, structure and rhythm of the musical piece. Besides his busy teaching schedule Kevin performs with the Golden State Pops Orchestra, Emerald Street Brass, and the Ryan Whitney Band. Availability: Wednesdays |
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Caster Teoh performed professionally with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, and numerous other symphonic groups throughout the world. In addition, he has participated in the Campos do Jordão International Winter Festival in Brazil, the Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar in the US, the Domaine Forget Music Academy in Canada, the Kumamoto Youth Music Festival in Japan, and the International Festival Santa Fiora in Musica in Italy. |
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Irina Chirkova is originally from Bulgaria, and she came overseas in 1997 when she attended The Boston Conservatory and graduated with a BM and MM. As a performer, she won multiple competitions such an American String Teachers' Association Competition, II Prize in MA; performed multiple times as a soloist with an orchestra, one of which was her own arrangement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto adopted for two violins, a cello, two DJs and an orchestra (performed with Orchestra X, Houston, TX). Irina is an electric standing up cellist as well. As a teacher, she was a founder of the First Cello Competition at Brookline Music School, MA, where she was a String Department Coordinator and a member of the Cello Faculty for seven years. From 2001 until 2005, she was a Teaching Assistant at Wellesley College, MA. Irina has performed multiple times as a soloist for Bill Clinton and the former Governor of MA, Mitt Romney. Some of her recent performances include performing with Kanye West and Elan Artists. She has performed for Yo-Yo Ma, Bernard Greenhouse, Aldo Parisot, Timothy Eddy, Tokyo String Quartet, Norman Fischer and Andor Toth. Currently, she is a band/group member of Novel3 Trio, Rouge ensemble and CCBONNES. Irina is a faculty member at Santa Monica Music Center, Cornerstone Music Conservatory and Neighborhood Music School, CA. |
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Frank Marino received his music education from the prestigeous Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. Frank is a tremendously gifted string bass teacher and will also soon be teaching theory classes at Opus Music |
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Jennifer Tuinenga holds a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Hope College in Holland Michigan where she studied with Romanian violinist Mihai Craioveanu. She is now completing her masters in violin performance at the Cole Conservatory where she currently studies with renowned violin teacher, Linda Rose.
Jennifer has been teaching violin for several years and enjoys working with students of many different ages and skill levels. In addition to being a private violin teacher, she has worked in several group settings which include serving as a string coach at Renaissance High School for the Arts in Long Beach, and formerly for the Pre-College Chamber Music Program in Holland Michigan. |
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Heriberto Ramos is an assistant conductor to the North Torrance Symphony Orchestra and an ensemble coach for Opus Music. He is currently in process to complete a music education degree from the Bob Cole Conservatory at the Cal State University, Long Beach. Mr. Ramos is a tremendously gifted performer, teacher and conductor. |
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Shura Sasaki had started his violin training at the age of three in his home country, Japan. After setting foot in Los Angeles, he started taking lessons from Paul Stein. He continued his study with renowned teacher, Linda Rose, at Cal State Long Beach where he served as a concertmaster and earned Bachelor of Music degree. He performs actively in some recording studios, and with several symphony orchestras around Southern California that includes Downey Symphony, Pasadena Pops, Rio Hondo Symphony, Torrance Symphony, LA Symphony and Burbank Philharmonic. He currently serves as a concertmaster in LA Doctors Symphony. He is also known as an active composer/arranger and his works has been played regularly in Los Angeles area. He plays in several chamber music groups, which perform both standard repertoire and his own works. Availability: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays |
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Kirika Suzuki |
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Joshua Zeigler received his B.A. in Music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. There he had the opportunity to study with renowned drummers in both the jazz and rock realm including Rod Morgenstien, Dave DiCenso, Gary Chaffee and John Ramsey. While living in Boston, Joshua toured with Nearing Zero, Opal, and Nick Gomez. A highlight of Joshua’s studio work is recording a track for an upcoming Mark Wahlberg feature film. Dedicated to constantly improving and learning more about his craft, Joshua hopes to pass his dedication and knowledge onto students in various methods and styles. |
