Meet the faculty

Our music teachers nurture a culture of excellence, achievement, and inspiration.

It’s a world-class team, teaching right here in Salt Lake City. Our exceptional instructors produce students who go on to study at every top music conservatory in the United States, including Juilliard, Curtis, Colburn, New England, Peabody, Cleveland, Bard, Indiana, and San Francisco. Academically oriented students have been accepted on scholarship to every local university and top academic programs like Stanford, Harvard, Rice, Columbia, and Yale.

Our Founders and Executive Director

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Eugene Watanabe

Co-Founder & Artistic Director

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Dr. Vera Oussetskaia Watanabe

Co-Founder & Piano Area Chair

A woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair and light skin smiling, holding a violin in her left hand, dressed in a black lace dress, standing indoors with a plain background.

Dr. LeeAnn Morgan

Executive Director

Shenae Akagi (Andersen)

Violin, Conservatory Orchestra

Shelley Astle

Suzuki Collaborative Pianist

Thomas Baron

Violin

Johnny Cardenas

Jazz Piano, Jazz Composition

Linda Duan

Piano, Assistant Artistic Director, Conservatory Director

Dr. Koji Atwood

Piano, Music History

Anne Frances Bayless

Cello

Christopher Danz

Trumpet

Dr. Esther Jeehae Ahn

Conservatory Piano Ensemble

Katherine Baird

Cello, Suzuki program Director, Preparatory Chamber Music

Dr. Blanka Bednarz

Violin

Abby Dreher

Viola, GRIT Director

Erika Hubbard

Violin

Dr. Jeffrey Allardyce

Saxophone

Kimberly Marsden

Double Bass

Matthew Robertson

YCA Choir

A woman in a navy blue dress with earrings, smiling, leaning on a grand piano with her arms crossed on top of it.

Our Faculty (in alphabetical order)

Gabriel Gutierrez

Suzuki Collaborative Pianist

Yelena Bates

GRIT Choir, Piano

Dr. Michael Chikinda

Music Theory Area Chair, Faculty Council Chair

Dr. Matthew Durrant

Music Theory and Composition

Rachel Bower Karr

Violin

Emily Holmstead

Violin

Rebecca Goeckeritz

Violin

Sarah Houghton

Choir Director, Voice

Monica Mendoza

Violin

Rebecca Moensch

Violin

Andrew Keller

Double Bass

Dr. Whitney Pizza

Piano, Area Coordinator, Collaborative Pianist

Dr. Conlan Miller

Collaborative Piano

Joanna Oshida

Supplemental Piano

Andres Reyes

GRIT Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Guitar, Ukelele

John T. Posadas

Viola

Dr. David Price

Violin

Mark Rau

Piano, Group Piano Instructor

Suzannah Rose

Music Theory

Dr. Alie Yorgason

Collaborative Pianist

Rachel H. Taft

GRIT, Violin

Kevin Shumway

Cello

Sophie Stanley

Classical Guitar

Wachira Waigwa-Stone

Percussion

Monica Yardley Thiriot

Violin

David Yavornitsky

Double bass

Young woman with long dark hair holding a violin in front of her chest
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Older man with gray hair and beard, wearing a maroon sweater, holding a violin and bow, standing outside next to a green building with a motorcycle in the foreground.
Man with glasses and a beard playing a keyboard on stage.
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Man in a suit playing a piano in a well-lit room with large windows and white curtains.
Young woman holding a cello outdoors in a forest
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Woman in a green dress playing a violin
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A woman smiling and holding a violin in a room with blue cabinets and picture frames on the wall.
A man dressed in a black suit playing a clarinet outdoors in a snowy mountain landscape with cloudy sky.

Luca de la Florin

Oboe

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Young woman holding a violin and bow, smiling at the camera, against a plain background.
A young man in a floral shirt and blazer sitting outdoors on a brick pathway, smiling at the camera.
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Addison Graham

GRIT Assistant

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Girl holding a small acoustic guitar in a dimly lit room with a blurry background.
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A young woman with short dark hair playing a silver flute. She is smiling and wearing a black jacket with metallic buttons, a black choker, and a necklace. The background is vibrant with colorful autumnal foliage.
A smiling woman with long, light brown hair and bangs, wearing a black top, standing indoors with a yellow-green background.
Black and white portrait of a man in formal attire with glasses, holding a double bass.
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Smiling woman with long, wavy brown hair in a dimly lit indoor setting.
A man sitting on outdoor steps, smiling, wearing a black shirt with his hands clasped in front of him.
A child's hand holding an acoustic guitar in black and white, with a blurred person in the background.
A smiling woman with long black hair and a light complexion
A man in a black suit, white shirt, and black tie standing in front of a geometric background.
Young woman with shoulder-length wavy brown hair, smiling, wearing a black lace dress, standing against a plain beige wall.
A woman with curly blonde hair wearing a black top with sheer puff sleeves, smiling at the camera.
Musician playing a cello in an orchestra
A young woman with long, wavy hair and a bright smile, wearing a red patterned top, against a dark background.
A man with curly hair, wearing a beige pinstripe suit and white shirt, is outdoors with trees and a white canopy in the background.
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Portrait of a man in a tuxedo with a white bow tie, standing against a yellow background.