Our Staff

Gabriella is a performing arts educator and a working theatre and film professional. Her teaching experience includes leading musical theatre, voice, and writing curriculum for summer camp programs; group and individual audition

Janet Kuester is the founder (2004) of The Music Connection. She is a private piano and violin teacher. She believes all students have musical ability that can be nurtured and developed and

Matt Piet is a pianist, vocalist, composer, and music director. He was raised in Palos Park, IL, and began playing piano at age ten. By his teens he was an active professional

Zoe is a violin, viola, and guitar teacher. She began playing violin in fifth grade not too far from here, at Manhattan Junior High School where she would rehearse before being bussed

Miss Phallon has had a zealous love for music and a passion for mentorship since she was a member of Walt Whitman and The Soul Children of Chicago as a child. She

Jenny is a professional singer whose career has taken her around the world. She started as a youngster in the choir at Our Redeemer Church in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Voice lessons with

David started on the Viola when he was just 8 years old at the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College, Wheaton Illinois. From there he has studied with world class

Ryan Dardugno is a music teacher who has over 10 years of experience playing the piano. He started playing the piano at the young age of 6. When first learning the instrument,

Learning to play music should be fun! With over 30 years of experience teaching guitar and electric bass, that is the philosophy that I bring to music lessons. As a professional musician, I

Carl Johnston is a veteran Chicago performer and educator. He has taught violin and viola privately for the past 45 years at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, DePaul University, American Conservatory

Dustin V. attended Olivet Nazarene University in his hometown of Bourbonnais, Illinois and received his liberal arts degree in 2016. He began Suzuki violin at age 10, beginning in Bourbonnais and later

Ana Simonovska hails from Skopje, Macedonia where she began playing the violin at the age of five. She attended Skopje’s Performance Arts High School, where she studied violin and viola. Ana holds

Heather J. Carlasare, a native of New York City, was born into a very musical family. Both of her parents are professional musicians and she was brought up in the classical tradition

Edward Eubank is a professional violinist with an extensive career as a performer, private teacher, middle and high school Orchestra Director and Fine Arts Administrator.  He earned his Bachelor of Music degree

Matt Barwegen, the violist, has played in Midwest orchestras for 12 years, after earning a Performer’s Certificate in 2009 from Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, FL, where he studied with pedagogue Ralph

Matthew Kijowski is a piano teacher and worship director in the city of Chicago. He received a Bachelors in Music in Music in Worship from North Park University where he received awards

Julia Clearman began studying Suzuki piano at the age of five under the direction of Nancy Daley through the Suzuki program at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN. Upon graduation from

Albanian-born and raised pianist Mirela L. has performed as recitalist, chamber musician, collaborative pianist, and taught piano professionally for over 20 years throughout Europe and the United States. Mrs. L. holds her

Brenda Kenyon is a native Pennsylvanian from Waterford, near Erie.  She received a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Pennsylvania at Mansfield and a Master’s in music education from Wright

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Mindy S. has found her home in the Chicago area. Mindy has studied piano from age 5, and received her Bachelor’s in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State

Music Director of the Chicago Philharmonia Orchestra since 1985, Farobag Homi C. has also served as the Artistic Director of the University of Chicago’s Performing Artists Series from 1990 through 2002 and

Mrs. Christina E. is a professional pianist/accompanist with a wealth of experiences. She has an extensive background in piano pedagogy and has been teaching children and adults for over 30 years. She

A current voice instructor at The Music Connection, Elena Kolganova got her start in her native city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. There, she studied vocal performance at the Tashkent College of Music, and

Steve Lawler graduated from Valparaiso University. He has been playing guitar on and off for about forty years. Steve has been teaching guitar at The Music Connection since it was founded over