Our Staff

Hi! My name is Briana and I am so excited to teach the violin with you! Music has always been a big part of my life. I have been singing since I was really little, I took piano lessons for 3 years and now I have been playing violin for almost 7 years! I love […]

I’m currently a junior in high school and I’ve been learning and playing piano for the last 11 years. I’ve been in my school band since 6th grade playing percussion and now I am in my high school’s marching band and percussion ensemble. I enjoy playing all kinds of different music but I especially like […]

I have been playing piano since I was 4, and have always had a love for music. I continued my music journey and began singing in the Elgin Children’s Chorus in elementary school and continued with vocal performance up until the end of high school, working as the assistant conductor for the Elgin Youth Choir. […]

Hi there! My name is Darío Serrato, and I’m a music educator, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist originally from central Mexico and now based in Illinois. I specialize in early childhood music education, but I also teach students of all ages — from toddlers to teens, to adult beginners and advanced learners alike. Over the past decade, […]

Tim Jones is a dynamic and accomplished instrumentalist, vocalist, and music educator based in the Chicagoland area. A lifelong musician, Tim began his journey at age 5 with piano, later expanding to trombone, and ultimately finding his voice on guitar, bass, and vocals. A graduate of Elmhurst College with a BFA and an Illinois State […]

Brianna is currently a sophomore in high school and has been playing for 10 years. Some of her favorite artists are Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Laufey, and Marina and the Diamonds. Her other hobbies include writing, drawing, singing, and taekwondo. She enjoys writing and drawing for the newspaper at her school as well as writing […]

Erin started playing the piano at the age of 4 and took up the flute at 11. During her middle and high school years, she was heavily involved in band, choir, and musical theater. Recently, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Business from Elmhurst University, where she was a member of both the Women’s […]

Alex Cassara has been playing the violin since the age of nine and holds an associate degree in music. With extensive studies in violin, viola, piano, and classical voice, Alex primarily performs as a singer with the Chicago Master Singers. However, Alex has more experience teaching violin and viola, having taught these instruments for nearly […]

Paul’s journey in music began at age eight with classical piano lessons. He became immersed with Haydn, Mozart, Bach, and Chopin and then later with the Great American Songbook and Jazz. At age twelve, Paul made the decision to take up the drums and with that began his dual commitment to the worlds of piano and percussion. […]

Jimmy is a recent graduate from Northern Illinois University with Bachelor’s Degrees in both Music Education and Trumpet Performance. Throughout his time at NIU, he trained under notable music figures, refining his trumpet, French horn, and band arranging skills. Actively engaged in Chicagoland’s music scene, Jimmy is both a teacher and performer. His standout performances […]

Jacob has been taking music lessons since the age of 6. He has taken music classes in Jazz guitar at the University of Illinois Chicago as well as classical guitar and commercial piano at Belmont University. He has been teaching for 3 years and hopes to pass his passion for music onto his students!

Gideon has been learning music since he was very young. Music has been an enormous part of his life. He currently plays cello, piano, and trumpet. He also participates in the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra as a cellist and in the West Suburban Homeschool Band on trumpet. He has enjoyed teaching cello and piano at MECA […]

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 by greats such as Chopin, Mozart, and Beethoven. Since age 10, he has begun competing yearly at the state level in events such […]

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 Merit Music School. Diane also studied piano for ten (10) years. Although classically trained, she sang in a band for several years and […]

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 faculties as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College, and several […]

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 loves seeing the progress they make from week to week. She graduated from high school this year and hopes to continue studying music […]

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 from Deb Shofner, former ILMEA State President. In addition to teaching brass, she also teaches strings and general music as part of the […]

Brett 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) and refining his skills ever since and is bringing his skill-set to MECA as a beginning guitar teacher. While at St. Charles North, […]

Terin has been teaching guitar at MECA since 2019, and from the start, she fell in love with personalizing lessons for each student. As a teacher, she is drawn to figuring out how different students learn best and finding creative ways to meet their needs. Terin continued teaching at MECA while attending Aurora University, where […]

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 and watch movies. Bobby has studied music with Fareed Haque at Northern Illinois University. Some of his favorite bands include Rush, Metallica, Dream […]