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.

Dr. Vera Oussetskaia Watanabe

Piano, Co-Founder

Eugene Watanabe

Violin, Artistic Director, Co-Founder

Young woman with long dark hair holding a violin in front of her chest

Shenae Akagi (Andersen)

Violin, Conservatory Orchestra

Shelley Astle

Collaborative Pianist

Dr. Jeffrey Allardyce

Saxophone

Dr. Koji Atwood

Piano, Music History

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Katherine Baird

Cello, Suzuki Program Director

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.

Thomas Baron

Violin, Chamber Music

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Yelena Bates

Piano, GRIT Choir

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Anne Francis Bayless

Cello, Chamber Music

Woman in a green dress playing a violin

Dr. Blanka Bednarz

Violin

Man with glasses and a beard playing a keyboard on stage.

Jonny Cardenas

Jazz Piano, Jazz Composition

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Dr. Michael Chikinda

Music Theory Area Chair, Faculty Council Chair

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Christopher Danz

Trumpet

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Abby Hills

Viola, GRIT Director

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Linda Duan

Piano, Assistant Artistic Director, Conservatory Director

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Dr. Matthew Durrant

Music Theory and Composition

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Luca de la Florin

Oboe

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Rebecca Goeckeritz

Violin

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Gabriel Gutierrez

Flute

Emily Holmstead

Violin

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Sarah Houghton

Voice, Choir Director

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Erika Hubbard

Violin

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Rachel Bower Karr

Violin

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Monica Mendoza

Music Theory, Early Childhood

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Rebecca Moensch

Violin, Chamber Music

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Andrew Keller

Double Bass

Dr. LeeAnn Morgan

Viola, Provost

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Kimberly Marsden

Music Preschool, Music Theory

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Dr. Whitney Pizza

Piano, Collaborative Pianist

Dr. Conlan Miller

Collaborative Piano

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Joanna Oshida

Supplemental Piano

Andres Reyes

Jazz Guitar, Ukulele, GRIT Jazz

Matthew Robertson

Conservatory Choir

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John T. Posadas

Viola

David Price

Violin

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Suzannah Rose

Music Theory

Dr. Alie Yorgason

Collaborative Pianist

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Rachel H. Taft

Violin, GRIT

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Kevin Shumway

Cello, Chamber Music

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Sophie Stanley

Classical Guitar

Lorena Restrepo

GRIT violin

Landon Smith

GRIT choir

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Wachira Waigwa-Stone

Percussion

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Monica Yardley Thiriot

Violin

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David Yavornitsky

Double bass