
Grace Bestul
Piano
Grace has been playing the piano for ten years. She has also been learning to play the organ for four years. Grace enjoys sharing her knowledge of music with her students and
Piano
Grace has been playing the piano for ten years. She has also been learning to play the organ for four years. Grace enjoys sharing her knowledge of music with her students and
Piano
Kelvin has been playing the piano since age 6 and took private lessons throughout that time until starting college. In that span of 12 years, Kelvin played a great variety of pieces
Piano
Victoria started taking private piano lessons at age 5 and developed a repertoire of pieces by Debussy, Chopin, Clementi, and a variety of popular culture songs. Victoria has played as an accompanist
Voice
Diane studied voice for twenty (20) years, starting with Therese Longergan, then continuing with Emily McKnight at Milikin University, Phyllis Curtin at Boston University, and Lucille Halfvarson and Neva Baily at Chicago’s
Violin
Melody has been playing violin for 19 years. She began playing in private lessons and continued taking lessons throughout high school while also playing in the school orchestra. After high school, Melody
Cello
Ben started playing the cello when he was 10 years old and has continuously taken lessons for the last year and a half. Ben can be seen playing with the Elgin Youth
Guitar, Violin & Viola
Diego is currently a junior at Elgin High School and is able to teach violin, viola, and guitar! Diego’s main instrument is the viola, but he also practices and learns both voice
Guitar & Clarinet
Leyla started her musical journey by playing flute and clarinet for ten years. She received a guitar as a present from her parents and started learning on her own! Leyla started taking
Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
David is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University’s music program and a current graduate student at Northern Illinois University for jazz performance. Throughout the years, David has performed throughout the Chicagoland area
Cello
Paolo started playing the cello in the 4th grade and has been playing for the past 8 years. Paolo attends South Elgin High School and has developed his playing in various chamber
Violin
Daniel is a student at South Elgin High School and has a passion for teaching violin! He has been playing the violin for five years and has participated in numerous musical festivals
Piano & Violin
Krystina has played both the piano and violin for more than 6 years. She has learned so much about expressing her creativity and love for music within her instruments and looks forward
Guitar
Vito graduated with a degree in classical guitar performance from UIC in 2022, but takes a profession in both electric and classical guitar! Vito has opened for many national acts, some of
Percussion
Matt has been playing percussion for more than 15 years, has been teaching for the past five, and is currently the Director of Percussion at Marengo Community High School. Matt holds an
Voice
Leena has done doctoral work at the University of Michigan in voice performance and received her Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from the Boston Conservatory. She has taught on voice
Piano
Piano has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. I began taking lessons when I was 5 years old, and my lessons were truly a highlight in my
Piano
Kathy has been playing piano for over 40 years and teaching for over 20. She is very active in her church choir and orchestra as an organist accompanist.
Piano (Beginning & Intermediate), Drums & Percussion
Aaron is a multi-faceted percussionist as well as pianist. His study of music has taken him down many paths. Aaron obtained his Music Education and Music Performance degrees at the University of
Piano (Beginning & Intermediate), Voice, Guitar & Bass
Zak has played the guitar for over 9 years and classical guitar technique for over 5 and has been teaching for over 5 years. Zak has a degree from Judson University where
Piano (Beginning)
Skylar attends South Elgin High School. She has been playing piano for over 7 years and has been taking private professional lessons during this time. As a result of her private lesson
Piano (Beginning)
Emanuel attends South Elgin High School where he is active in the music program – he is the lead pianist in the Jazz Band. Emanuel has been playing piano for over 12
Drums & Percussion
Brent holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance (Cum Laude) from Northwestern University. He also earned a Masters of Music Performance from the University of Illinois – where he is currently working
Violin & Viola (Virtual Only)
Dana studied music education at Illinois State University and received her BA in Performing Arts Management from Columbia College in Chicago. In addition, she received her BM in Music Education in 2013
Beginning Violin & Viola (Online Only)
Violinist and music educator, Joanna is dedicated to helping students develop and refine their music. She graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in violin performance. Joanna has been teaching
Violin & Viola (Beginning)
Naomi has recently joined MECA as a beginning violin teacher. She attends a local High School and has been involved in music for years. Naomi took and continues to take violin lessons
Cello
Kerena Moeller is currently third chair with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and section cellist with the Rockford Symphony and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. Kerena joined the faculty of the Music Academy in Rockford
Violin & Viola
Claire recently received her master’s degree at DePaul University in Viola Performance. She was involved in DePaul’s Concerto Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, and 20+esemble. She received her Bachelors in Viola Performance from Northern
Guitar & Bass (Beginning-Intermediate)
Samantha is a graduate of St. Charles East where she participated in the music department’s programs and has been teaching at MECA for over a year. She was enrolled in AP Music
Guitar & Bass, Ukulele
Bobby has played guitar for over 11 years and has taught over 5 years. In addition to playing the guitar, he loves to play soccer, video games, spend time on the computer
Guitar & Ukulele
Terin picked up the guitar in 2010 and has been playing (lessons at MECA) and refining her skills ever since and is bringing her skill-set to MECA as a beginning guitar teacher.
Beginning Guitar & Bass (Online Only)
Brent is a 2019 graduate of St. Charles North high school and currently attends the University of Iowa. He picked up a guitar in 2010 and has been practicing (lessons at MECA)
Brass, Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn & Baritone
Anya is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degrees in Performance, Music Education, and Finance at Northern Illinois University. She studies trumpet with Dr. Mark Ponzo and supplements her academic work with conducting lessons