Music Faculty

Merit School of Music's accomplished faculty members come from around the world, yet all are devoted to our mission of providing high-quality music education to students in metropolitan Chicago.

Early Childhood

Brigid Finucane
Kristen Lems
Amy Lowe
Shannon Sherman
Tara Trudel

Strings

Breana Bauman,† Violin
Brian Beach,† Violin, Viola
Lizbeth Bistrow,† Violin
Chuck Bontrager,† Violin, Viola
Ying Chai, Violin
Melanie Clevert-Sarapa, Violin
Rebekah Cope, Violin
Karl Davies, Viola
Michelle George, Violin
Steve Gibbons, Violin
Dan Golden, Violin, Viola
Edith Yokely Gregorski, Violin
Amanda Grimm, Violin
Rachel Grubb, Violin
Robert Hasty, Violin
Kristin Hedlund, Violin
Chia-Ying Hsu, Violin, Viola
Elisabeth Johnson,† Violin, Viola
Agnieszka Kozlowska, Violin
Monica Lugo,† Violin
Talia Pavia,† Violin
Joanna Phillips, Violin, Viola
Patrick Rustandi, Violin, Viola
Christian Smith, Violin
Benjamin Weber, Violin, Viola
Arturs Weible, Viola
Andrew Williams,† Violin, Viola
MinHuan Xu, Violin, Viola
Johanna Yeager,† Violin
Doug Bistrow, Bass
Erich Hochberg, Bass
Eric Snoza, Bass
Lee Weiss, Bass
Herine Coetzee Koschak,† Cello
Janet Janz, Cello
Daniel Klingler, Cello
Paula Kosower, Cello
Erica Lessie, Cello
Joseph Miller, Cello
Alexa Muhly, Cello
Kyra Saltman, Cello
Rebecca Zimmerman, Cello

† Alegre Strings

Piano

Anca Apetean
Ann Birman
Joyce Carter
YoungJee Cho
Eric Cline
Evelyn Dias
Elena Doubovitskaya
Natsuko Ejiri
Ana Fau
Claudia Flack
Maya Galperin
Jue He
Kuang-Hao Huang
Mio Isoda-Hagle
Karina Kontorovitch
Jennifer McCabe
Steve Million*
Elizabeth Newkirk
Victor Ngo
Jeff Norris
Kathryn Rodriguez
Paul Sayre
Toshiko Suzuki
Ligia Takei

* Jazz

Guitar

Max Anisimov
Randy Hardy
José Posada
Bob Sherman
Timothy Stine

Brass

Jessica Baker, Horn
Stephen Burns, Trumpet
Victor Garcia, Trumpet
Paul Grankowski, Trombone
P. James LaMantia, Low Brass
Paul Lowry, Trumpet
Logan Massey, Trumpet
Jean McCullough, Horn
Matt Monroe, Horn
Daniel O'Connell, Horn
Colleen Riordan, Trombone
Timothy Riordan, Trombone
Chad Smith, Trumpet
Scott Tegge, Euphonium, Tuba
Liza White, Trombone

Percussion

Tom Bracy
Andrew Cierny
Robert Dillon
Daniel Howard
Christopher Jones
Tina Laughlin
Dominique Louis
Eric Montzka
Michael Taylor
Michael Tooles

Voice

Klaus Georg, Voice
Kim Jones, Voice
Ingrid Lestrud, Voice
Jade Maze, Voice
Patrice Michaels, Voice
Andrew Morgan, Choir
Kirk Walker, Voice
Nik Wenzel, Voice
A.J. Wester, Voice
Amanda Wolff, Choir

Woodwinds

Bonnie-Heather Campbell, Clarinet
Irene Claude, Flute
Susan Crandall, Flute
Barbara Drapcho, Clarinet
Steven Gooden, Clarinet
Betsy Ko, Flute
Khara Matthews, Saxophone
Aaron MacEvers, Saxophone
Anastasia Mousouli, Flute
Anna Najoom, Clarinet
Christine Phillips, Oboe
Bryan Polacek, Saxophone
Alicia Poot, Flute
Donna Robinson, Flute
Dianne Ryan, Bassoon
Cassandra Stevens, Flute
Shawn Tracy, Saxophone
Daniel Williams, Clarinet
Masumi Yoneyama, Flute

Composition

John Elmquist, Composition
Patricia Morehead, Composition