Meet Our Teachers

Andy Brass	Bill Drums	Brad Guitar & Ukulele	Bruce Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin, Banjo
Dr. Andrew Harms holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music with a concentration in German Studies, a Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and a Bachelor of Music degree with a minor in English Literature and Composition from Missouri State University. Andrew also completed performance studies at the University of Miami.	Bill Ricciardelli is an enthusiastic and patient instructor who has been immersed in music his entire life. Bill attended Berklee College of Music to further his studies on the drum set and percussion. Since then, he has performed and recorded with various artists throughout the U.S. and Canada and maintains a busy schedule as a private instructor as well. In recent years, Bill worked as a creative content and editing consultant for two method books, Universal Rhythms For Drum Set and Rhythm And Drumming Demystified, both by Dave DiCenso published by Alfred Music. Bill has also had his transcriptions published through various online drumming websites.	Brad Faucher has long been a first-call guitarist and vocalist on the Boston blues, and R&B scenes. Performing with the likes of: Chicago Bob Nelson, Bird Taylor, Sweet Willie D, Nicole Nelson and Diane Blue. Notable local performances include Boston’s Symphony Hall and Tanglewood. Brad effortlessly blends blues, jazz, gospel, R&B in the tradition of Johnny Guitar Watson, Grant Green, Snooks Eaglin, Cornell Dupree, and O’Donnell Levy. He currently performs solo, and with Session450, Grant AME Male Gospel Chorus, KONG and The Communicators.	With NMSD since 2003, Boston’s Bruce Millard teaches a range of string instruments and styles, from rock to jazz to folk and more, on guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and bass. A Berklee College Professional Music Scholarship and John Abercrombie Award recipient, he’s performed both locally and nationally since 1990. He has worked with Howard ‘Louie Bluie’ Armstrong, Tarbox Ramblers, the Tower of Power Horns, Toni Lynn Washington, Jim Kweskin, Men & Volts, Bob Moses, Jethro Burns, Dennis Brennan, Luther ‘Guitar Jr.’ Johnson, and others, in venues as diverse as The New York City Blues Festival, Boston Folk Festival, PBS-TV, Boston Rock Pipeline Festival, and Country Music Hall of Fame. Patience, empathy, inspiration and fun are the cornerstones of his teaching.

Casey Guitar, Ukulele, Bass, Banjo, Mandolin	Curtis Saxophone & Flute	Dorian Piano, Voice, Guitar, Ukulele	Bella Piano & Voice
Casey Abrams has a degree in composition and guitar performance from The University of Massachusetts.  He has more than thirty years’ playing and performing experience. He teaches guitar (fingerstyle, slide, folk, jazz, old-time, bluegrass, country, blues, metal, rock and pop) as well as ukulele, bass, banjo and mandolin.   He also offers lessons in songwriting, music theory, performing and arranging. His focus is on helping students of any age or level of ability to achieve their goals through step-by-step, personalized lesson plans, using songs they want to play. Casey performs nationally and is currently at work on his fourth album of original material.	Curtis Warren earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Professional Music with a concentration in Music Education and performance at Berklee College of Music. Curtis aspires to bring jazz to today’s generation in all the glory of its tradition, demonstrating the links of the sound of jazz with popular genres like hip hop music.	Berklee College of Music Magna Cum Laude graduate. “My teaching experience ranges from individual instruction in voice, songwriting and performance skills, to volunteer work with small groups of all ages, to designing curriculum for music camp.”	Bella An is a well- accomplished and dedicated voice and piano instructor. Working with students from all ages, degrees of experience, levels, and playing/singing style, she works with her students in a variety of genres including musicals, theatre, opera, classical, contemporary, pop, rock, jazz, blues, and more in both focuses of singing and piano. Bella focuses on creating a balanced and dynamic approach to teaching students that incorporates a variety of applications that span from specific technicality to the artful expression of singing and playing the piano. While also identifying and analyzing areas of improvement, her teaching philosophy takes into high consideration the execution of developing key solutions that target and eradicate the student’s difficulties. It is also important to Bella that students are learning music as the lessons themselves involve fun and productive activities. Bella knows how to lead and help students to step out of their comfort zone naturally as an expert. Students find an emotional connection where they become absorbed with her instruction and to the musical journey with her!

Erinn Piano, Voice,Guitar, Ukulele	Ilana Violin & Ukulele	Iris Piano, Guitar, Voice, Ukulele	Jaime Drums
Erinn Brown is a singer/songwriter, guitarist and pianist and also plays clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone. Brown has 4 Cd’s with original music and working on completing another. After graduating Berklee College of Music in Boston with a Professional Music Degree, Erinn moved to the North Shore where she performs (with a band, trio, duo or solo) and has been teaching private music lessons for over 21 years. Erinn has taught songwriting, music theory and Modern Band at Endicott College.	Ilana is currently finishing her Bachelor’s degree at the New England Conservatory with Donald Weilerstein, with whom she has been studying for 11 years. Since summer of 2013 Ilana has been a member of the Perlman Music Program, where she studies with the legendary Itzhak Perlman. With the program, Ilana traveled and performed in Sarasota, FL; Stanford, CA; New York City; and in Israel. Ilana is an avid experimenter and entrepreneur. She regularly performs in hospitals, retirement communities, and schools, with multi-disciplinary collaboration presentations to engage a larger audience.	Bachelor of Arts Jose White Conservatory, Camaguey, Cuba; Classical Performance, Ensemble conductor and Music hand-copying. Post-Graduate University of Arts, Havana, Cuba; Classical Guitar Performance Scholarship recipient Berklee College of Music; Performance Methodology and pedagogy of musical instruments, proficiency on Guitar, Piano, Voice and Bass. Performs regularly with the Boston area group Clave & Blues.	Jaime Chan has been a professional drummer/ percussionist, educator, multi-instrumentalist, and composer in the New England area for over 25 years. He has a B.A. from the Berklee College of Music where he studied drums, percussion, composition and arranging. Prior, Jaime attended Rhode Island College where he studied classical/ orchestral percussion Jaime’s professional playing experiences include performances all over the Northeast as well as tours in Germany and France. His musical focus on diversity has led to performances and recordings in a wide variety of music ranging between all the styles of American popular, street, and folk to classical/ symphonic to world music. In 2004, Jaime co-founded the Boston-based R&B/funk band Kong who he continues to perform with today.

Taylor Piano	Maryann Piano & Violin	Nat All Instruments	Phil Brass
Taylor Roland is a highly motivated composer with a comprehensive background in Teaching, Audio Design, Performance, Composition, and Arranging. He has written more than nine hundred pieces for the concert hall, advertisements, audio books and video games. For more than nine years, he has pursued  his passion for teaching and takes pride in seeing his students progress and succeed.	Pianist Maryann Han started playing piano at the age of 5. She made her first public solo performance in the third grade, and has since won competitions for solo and chamber performances. She has attended the International Keyboard Institute and Festival in NYC, where she had access to internationally renowned pianists and pedagogues. Maryann graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a BM in piano performance under the guidance of Victor Rosenbaum. An active accompanist and chamber musician, she holds a deep passion for playing with other musicians and spreading the joy of music to all ages. She continues to explore her artistry with renowned pianist Mana Tokuno.	Nat Simpkins has been involved professionally in music for over 35 years as a music teacher, performing artist, recording artist, record producer, record label owner, arranger and composer. He is a Blue Jay Recording Artist,  has written many music books and hundreds of arrangements for musicians of all levels. He has experience in virtually all styles of music. He was educated at the Berklee School of Music. He headlined at Boston’s “Steppin’ Out” concert sharing the stage with Delfeayo Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Tito Puente Jr. and many others, and at the Jazz Week festival in Boston sharing the stage with Max Weinberg from the “Late Nite” with Conan O’Brian Show. Primarily a saxophonist he also performs on and teaches Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Clarinet, Flute, Trumpet, Trombone, Banjo and Mandolin.	Dr. Phil Sullivan holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, as well as a Master’s Degree from the New England Conservatory. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in 2014. Phil strives for all his students to enjoy making music.

Plamen Piano & Voice	Sachiko Oboe & Piano	Sam Guitar & Ukulele	Sven Upright bass & Guitar
Plamen Karadonev is an adept jazz pianist and accordionist with experience playing a variety of genres including jazz, classical, fusion, world music, R&B, and gospel. For more than 20 years, Karadonev has been performing in many different ensemble settings including big band, small and large jazz and contemporary ensembles, string orchestras, vocal ensembles, duos, and solo.	Masters of Music, Longy School of Music at Bard College. Sachiko Murata is an Oboe educator, composer, soloist, chamber, orchestral performer, and currently Principal Oboist with The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts. Sachiko has performed around the world and won first prize at the Ralph Gomberg Oboe Merit Award. As a composer, her most recent work Kyo-Sen, was highly acclaimed at the 12th Annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue at the Ikeda Center of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ms. Murata comes from a musical family, and her father was a former principal oboist of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra.	An active musician for the past 17 years, Sam has been a passionate teacher of guitar and music theory for the past 6 years. After earning a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Chicago, Sam moved to Colorado to teach and manage a small music shop, Jensen Guitar Company. Sam has performed for many years as a solo guitarist (acoustic and electric) in all styles, as well as a lead guitarist for a variety of bands in different styles from Jam to Jazz to Indie and more. Sam has an in-depth knowledge of Music Theory and Improvisation (The focuses of his BA in Music from Boston College, along with Composition) as they relate to guitar and harmonic analysis.	Born in Ohio, Sven came to Boston in 1995 and began studying with bass virtuoso Steve Neil, and has studied many styles of music, including Hindustani Classical music and West African Drumming. Sven has become an in demand bassist on the local jazz and blues scene. Sven has played on hundreds of stages as a touring musician across the US, Canada and Europe including Symphony Hall, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and Toronto Jazz Festival to name just a few. He is in the process of composing and recording a Latin Boogaloo album, with his 8 piece Mad Viking Mini Big Band. Previously he was a founding member and composer for the modern jazz group The Infinite Ensemble, and leader of the world music groups Bangalore and Little Bang. Patient and thoughtful. Sven is dedicated to passing along his joy and passion for music to all his students.