Keyboard Teachers

Amy began playing piano at 6 years old, and by age 8 was performing on stage. She obtained her BFA in Music Education and Piano Performance from C.W. Post. She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, and as an accompanist for the Artists of American Chorus at Lincoln Center. She also writes background music for radio, TV, and film.

Amy has 25 years of experience, and teaches all styles of music, including pop, rock, adult contemporary, ragtime, jazz, Broadway, new age, boogie woogie, and classical. She also specializes in music theory and composition. She teaches all ages, and one of her goals is to make sure everyone has fun while learning music.

In addition to normal guitar instruction, David has amassed a weather of knowledge regarding music publishing, and copyrights, and has learned how the business works and how to interpret various contractual agreements relating to the recording industry.  He has released over 14 albums worldwide and toured extensively in Europe and the United States. In addition, he has composed three “rock operas” that were performed over 50 times each, in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with each work garnering rave reviews.

His approach with teaching is to motivate and inspire the students, to get the students to read so they have access to the “repertoire”, introduce them to proper scale fingering, modes, and the theory behind the compositions they are learning, which will hopefully inspire them to begin composing their own works. In addition David would also like to show them all the things not normally taught or found in the “classical” method–namely all the chords and riffs from the “rock” side of things, especially the world of metal.

Hailed by Opera Now for his “believably heroic figure with a gleaming ring at the top of his vocal register,” John, in the 08/09 season, will add the roles of Samson and Tannhäuser to his repertoire. He will debut in Norway, Greece, Lithuania and Poland. In the spring of 2009, John will cover Placido Domingo in Los Angeles for the role of Siegmund in Die Walküre. He returned to the Nationaltheater Mannheim for Alvaro in La forza del destino, the title roles in both Lohengrin and Parsifal and Jason in Medée in the 2007-08 season. In previous seasons with the company, he has also sung Kaiser Die Frau ohne Schatten, Max in Der Freischütz, Siegmund in Die Walküre, Sergei in Lady Macbeth von Mtsensk, Canio in Pagliacci, and the title role in Otello.

His relationship with the Metropolitan Opera started with his participation in the company’s famed Lindemann Young Artist Development program and subsequent debut as Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has since bowed there as Don Jose in Carmen, Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhäuser, Enée in a new production of Les Troyens conducted by James Levine, False Dmitiri in Boris Godunov, Andres in Wozzeck also conducted by James Levine and recorded for television broadcast, Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten in performances conducted by Philippe Auguin and Christian Thielemann.

Highlights of his other engagements in America include Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Utah Opera, and Tulsa Opera; Bacchus and Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena at Santa Fe Opera; Paul in Die tote Stadt and Don Jose in Carmen at New York City Opera; a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; and Narraboth in Salome at Houston Grand Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Among his many international engagements are performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Apollo in Daphne and Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena. He sang Erik in Der fliegende Holländer at the Frankfurt Opera, Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena and Tichon in Kát’a Kabanova at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and the title role in Parsifal at the Scottish Opera, and Florestan in Fidelio at Opera North Ireland. He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the title role in Lohengrin and later joined the company for Bacchus. He made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and at the Arena di Verona as Don Jose in Carmen. Other engagements lead him to De Vlaamse Opera for Apollo in Daphne and Gherman in Pikovaja Dama, Grand Théâtre de Genève and L’Opéra de Nancy for Laca in Jenufa, Chatelet in Paris for Apollo in Daphne, and to the Opéra de Nantes for both the title role of Lohengrin and Florestan in Fidelio. He also joined conductor Bertrand de Billy for concert performances of Albrecht von Brandenburg in Mathis der Maler at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and has sung title role in Lohengrin at the Teatro Municipal di Santiago in Chile.

On the concert stage, John recently sang Fritz in Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Litton as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Libor Pesek for Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass; the Kansas City Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8; the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, andrnthe Pittsburgh Symphony under Lorin Maazel for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; the Colorado Sympony for Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde; and the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas for Stravinsky’s Les noces.

A frequent guest at festivals all around the world, the tenor has been featured at the Spoleto Festival in Rachmaninov’s The Bells, as Magician in The Consul and in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. He’s sung the title role in Rienzi at the Antiken Fesitval with Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony No. 8 at the Bard Music Festival, Menelaus at the Baden-Baden Festival and Florestan in Fidelio at the Bellingham Festival.

John’s recordings of scenes from Lohengrin and Siegfried as well as scenes from Tristan und Isolde have been released on the Naxos label. He can be heard as the Magician in The Consul on Chandos and tenor soloist in ‘In These Great Times’, released on Tzadik. Other recordings include Zorn in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on London Decca under the baton of Sir Georg Solti, and Araldo in Don Carlo on Sony, conducted by James Levine.

Karolina began studying piano at the age of seven under the tutelage of Dr. Ana Maria Trenchi Bottazzi. She received her Bachelor of Music in Classical Piano Performance from William Paterson University. Studying with Gary Kirkpatrick, Karolina graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honors. She was a founding member and participant of the William Paterson University Piano Ensemble for two years. Karolina’s notable performances include an appearance with the Leschetizky Piano Society and two solo recitals at the Kosciuszko Foundation. Karolina taught piano lessons at the Music Den in Kinnelon, NJ for students varying in age and ability.

Michael has been at the helm of String Sound Studios since 1986. Mainly a guitarist, he is also well-schooled in bass guitar, piano, and some woodwinds. He is considered by his peers to be a talented multi-instrumentalist with skills on 5-string banjo, ukulele, and mandolin. While at Five Towns College, Michael studied with master musicians Peter Rogine, John Dewitt, and Donna Olson. Michael insists on being eclectic and shares a deep understanding of jazz, rock, blues, and classical music with all his students. Michael has a world view of music which includes Latin, eastern, and western elements that show up in his arranging.

Over the years, many of his students have been accepted into music colleges and are actively involved in the music industry today. Michael is also an ace transcriber, arranger, and extremely knowledgeable in using music software such as Sibelius to arrange and compose music for the ensembles at our Setauket studio. For over 30 years he has been guiding students in NYSSMA, All-State, recitals and college auditions. Michael’s influences range from Bach to Larry Carlton, and he has played with numerous bands as a freelancer over the years. He is in the midst of a finger-style solo guitar project and involved in private and ensemble music instruction.

Along with possessing a strong musical prowess, Michael and his family are very involved with ice skating and ice hockey.