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Sammi Block, mezzo-soprano, is a graduate student in the Master of Music in Voice Performance program at North Park University in Chicago. A native of Appleton, WI, Sammi moved to Chicago after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education degree from St. Olaf College. Since entering the Chicago music scene in 2006, Sammi has taught voice, choir, piano, and music theory. She has experience with many musical genres, including: classical, musical theater, opera, and pop. She currently performs with the William Ferris Chorale, Chicago Chorale, Chicago Chamber Choir, St. Luke Bach Choir and sings as the alto soloist at St. Gregory’s Church in Deerfield, Il.
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Melissa earned her Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music from Millikin University. She has been a member of the prestigious Millikin University Choir, as well the award winning a capella jazz group One Voice, where she was privelaged to appear at the annual Elmhurst Jazz Festival as well as relase a full length CD entitled "Small Talk". She is experienced in a wide range of musical styles including everything from classical to pop. Melissa also has experience in the studio where she recently produced/engineered/and recorded her first solo album of original songs. Most recently Melissa studied in Europe at the Centro Studi Italiani in Urbania, Italy. There she received vocal coaching in the native language and performed throughout the country.
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Born to an instrumentalist father and vocalist mother, Marley began her formal musical training with lessons in classical piano and clarinet. The voice, however, was Marley’s first love and remains her primary instrument.
Marley received her master’s degree in music from Northwestern University after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in the same field from Loyola University in New Orleans. While in New Orleans, Marley was privileged to have studied with seasoned musicians such as vocalist Johnaye Kendrick and pianist Vadim Neselovskyi of the Monk Institute ’09, big band arranger John Mahoney, vocalists Cindy Scott and Leah Chase, and Papa Grows Funk saxophonist, Jason Mingledorff. She also performed all over the city at such venues as the Spotted Cat, Neutral Ground, and the New Orleans French Quarter Fest. While in Chicago, Marley studied privately with Blujazz recording artist Janice Borla and Northwestern Jazz Coordinator and Linclon Center Jazz Orchestra member, Victor Goines. She also had the incredible opportunity to co-direct and sing with the Northwestern Community Jazz Stage Band.
Marley is very excited to be a resident of Chicago and is looking forward to contributing to Chicago’s thriving music scene as a teacher and performer. |
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Robert has been performing professionally since the age of 12, first playing clarinet with his teacher in the summer bands along the shores of Lake Erie and later saxophone with the Hermits Club Jazz Ensemble. Since that time, he has performed and toured extensively in various rock, blues and jazz bands, as multi-reedist for the 20th anniversary tour of the Broadway musical, Annie, and more recently as an active arranger and performer on various cruise lines. He has also helped edit text and create musical examples for several publications, including Dr. Paul Berliner’s Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation.
His teaching credentials include Northwestern University, where he was a graduate assistant in the computer music lab, as well as course instructor for undergraduate classes in solfege and music theory. He has taught courses in the history of jazz and blues music for the University of Chicago, and been an instructor of saxophone and clarinet at Joan’s Studio for the Performing Arts, in Hyde Park. |
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Laura Hoffman is the author of several blues and jazz books for both kids and adults, most recently publishing The Blues Cookbook for intermediate pianists, taking those new to blues through various styles with the help of a CD full of accompaniments and examples by Ms. Hoffman. Featured in Today's Chicago Woman as one of the Fifty Women of the Year for her work in music, she has taught at the CCSOM since it's inception and remains in high demand as both as teacher and performer. Splitting her time between Chicago and New York City, Ms. Hoffman has worked with such musical artists as Alan Swain, Skip Green, Jack Hubal, Willie Pickens, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Bob Hope, Marilyn McCoo, Al Hirt, Redd Foxx, Liza Minelli, and Lou Washington. A regular in the jazz and blues scene in Chicago, she has performed with jazz trios and quartets all over the greater Chicago area, music-directed several Chicago broadway shows, and worked as a mentor through the Ravinia Festival's outreach program. Ms. Hoffman studies Feng Shui and Yoga in her free time and believes in the creative potential of all individuals.
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Elizabeth Hopkins is a versatile and dynamic flutist, recently graduated from the Chicago College of Performing Arts with a Master of Music where she studied with Chicago Symphony piccoloist and flutist, Jennifer Gunn. She has performed in masterclasses with such flutists as Robert Longevin, Carol Wincenc, Trevor Wye, and Thomas Robertello, and in 2009 she was invited to compete at the Haifa International Flute competition in Haifa, Israel. Elizabeth enjoys exploring the breadth of the flute repertory and is equally at home with baroque ensembles, orchestral music, and 20thcentury extended techniques.
Elizabeth finds teaching to be enormously rewarding and loves sharing her passion with students. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys playing the Native American flute, delving into music history, and dancing.
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Marc is an experienced jazz performer and plays frequently throughout Chicago with Q-Blue, ESP, Lori McClain and many others. He co-founded and co-directs the Summer Lab On Stage program at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. He spends his free time going the park with his daughter and riding his bike. His love of jazz and black coffee runs deep, consequently he rarely sleeps. For more info about Marc check out www.marcpiane.com. |
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As Director, Richard established the School of Music in 1998 under the name zZounds School of Music at Pipers Alley in Old Town. Richard is Chicago native and holds a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati and an A.A. from William Harper College. He has performed throughout the Midwest solo and in various ensembles. |
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Caroline Shaul, soprano, received her training in the Midwest at Illinois Wesleyan University and University of Wisconsin-Madison. While studying, Caroline performed roles such as Lauretta from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, the title role from Carlisle Floyd's Susannah and Donna Anna from Mozart'sDon Giovanni.
Upon finishing her graduate degree, Ms. Shaul relocated to Washington DC and taught and performed extensively throughout the area in the past 4 years. In Washington DC, Caroline studied with Elizabeth Daniels. She performed in multiple operas, operettas, and musicals in the area including the Countess Almaviva from Le Nozze di Figaro with the Maryland Opera Society, Musetta from La Boheme with Repertory Opera Theater of Washington, and Rose Williams in one of the first readings of the new musical Tom to TENN by Paul Leavitt. She has recently relocated to Chicago, IL and is now studying with Jo Rodenberg.
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Mezzo-soprano Carolyn Jeanette Stein hails from the suburbs of Chicago where she made her singing debut at the age of 12 in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. She also sang for Mstislav Rostropovich at a Chicago Gala in his honor. More recently, Ms. Stein created the title role in the U.S. Premiere of Silla by G.F. Handel and was a 2010 Pine Mountain Music Festival Resident Artist. Carolyn holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, where she was awarded the Helen Haxton Stare Presidential Scholarship. While attending NEC, Ms. Stein studied with LurettaBybee, was featured in a masterclass with Renée Fleming, and played the roles of Clori (L’Egisto), Dorothée(Cendrillon) and Rosa Gonzales (Summer and Smoke). Prior to her work at NEC, Carolyn studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Salzburg Mozarteum. Carolyn attended the Chautauqua Institution under the direction of Marlena Malas, singing the roles of Mother Goose (Rake’s Progress) and Annina (La Traviata). In addition to her classical roles, Carolyn was a member of the American Musical Theater Ensemble in New York under the direction of Carolyn Marlow. In recent past, Ms. Stein has sung with the Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston companies. Ms. Stein is currently accepting students of all different musical backgrounds who wish to develop a healthy tension-free vocal technique, stage confidence, and musical expression. All styles of repertoire are encouraged (musical theater, pop, classical,etc).
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