Ani
Ani is a professionally trained singer/songwriter/ musician and certified VOICE & PIANO teacher with more than 10 years of teaching experience, who loves to share her knowledge with her students.
She was born and raised in Austria, where she started her classical music education at the early age of 5 by learning to play the flute, the violin and the piano.
As a teenager she discovered her natural talent for singing, which allowed her to become the lead singer of a successful local Pop/Rock band.
After graduating high school Ani moved to Vienna, where she studied ‘Voice and Musical Education’ at the University of Music and Performing Arts. She also successfully completed the master class of celebrity voice coach David Lee Brewer, former voice teacher of Beyonce and Destiny’s child.
In 2007 Ani relocated to Berlin, Germany. There she learned how to produce music and set up her own recording studio, where she wrote and recorded more than 100 original songs. Ani also used the studio as a professional teaching and recording space for her private students.
During her time in Berlin she regularly performed with various bands and worked for 3 different music schools, ‘Happy Music’, the ‘Joseph Schmidt Musikschule’ and the ‘Berufsakademie Hoffbauer’, a college focused on music education.
In 2014 cosmopolitan Ani arrived in Los Angeles, where she’s been recording, performing and teaching ever since. Besides being a part of the Piano Teacher Girl team, Ani also instructs at the ‘Hollywood Academy of Music’ and ‘Musical Beginnings’ in Westchester.
Anna
Anna Mezentseva is a Los Angeles based Singer-Songwriter and Performer. Anna has been teaching Voice and Piano for the past 7 years, constantly improving her methods, vocal techniques and adding new topics to her lessons.
Born and raised in a small town in Siberia, Russia, Anna started her career at the age of 5 by playing piano, performing with a church choir and participating in piano and voice contests. Anna took an intensive vocal course in Tech Music School in London, and then moved to the US in hopes of becoming a professional singer-songwriter. Inspired by artists such as Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, and many more, she continued her journey by studying songwriting and performance in Boston. Later on she decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue her own music career. Anna has collaborated with award winning artists such as two times Grammy Awards winner Peter Eldridge, Grammy nominated mastering engineer Jonathan Wyner, Japan’s version of Grammy Awards winners Darrin Bolden and Perry Geyer, and others.
"In my lessons I focus on vocal warm ups, breathing exercises, vocal/piano performance and music theory. I think it’s important for students to not only listen to music but to understand how it’s written and structured. I'm always open for new ideas and suggestions from the students and their parents to make the best out of every lesson."
Amanda
Amanda Mello is a classically trained soprano that is currently earning her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance with a focus in Opera at CSU Northridge. She graduated with a BM in Vocal Performance from CSU Long Beach in May 2019. Her teacher is the world renowned Shigemi Matsumoto, who also has sung on several albums with Luciano Pavarotti.
Amanda is currently performing the role of Mrs. Fiorentino from Kurt Weill’s Street Scene with CSUN Opera and has also learned the roles Adina from The Elixir of Love and Nanetta from Falstaff. At CSU Long Beach, Amanda was a member of the Chamber Choir and the Vocal Jazz ensemble Jazz ‘n Tonic. Amanda is also the Soprano Section Leader and Soloist for First United Methodist Church Pasadena, where she was the Soprano Soloist for the Mozart Requiem. She was a Soprano and Soloist for the LA based professional choir Tonality before entering her graduate studies. She participated in both the Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute in Aspen, Colorado in 2019 and the Montecito International Music Festival in 2018, where she was in the chorus for the Mikado and had a master class with American Mezzo Soprano Dr. Latoya Lain.
Amanda believes it is very important for vocalists to have a strong piano background as well. She studied piano in various styles for twelve years and continued taking collegiate courses piano and acing her Piano Proficiency exams. Amanda has been teaching both voice and piano for over two years. Amanda has taught from ages 3 to 63 and loves catering each lesson to the personality and goals of her students. She emphasizes form, technique, accuracy and musicality in both instruments. Amanda is excited to be making new musical memories at Piano Teacher Girl!
Sophie
Driven by her passion for sharing the joy of music, Sophie Pipia has taught at private and group lessons in piano and accordion, in addition to music classes in public and private elementary schools, since 2015. She spent two years teaching elementary school music through a partnership between AmeriCorps and Ethos Music Center in rural Oregon, and later throughout the San José Unified School District and San Mateo-Foster City School District through the non-profit organization, Music for Minors.
In addition to teaching, Sophie has worked with several non-profit organizations to bring music and arts eduction to under-resourced communities. She served on the board of The New Old Time Chautauqua for several years, helping to bring arts education to low-income youth throughout Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. In addition to her studies in music, psychology, and Spanish at Laney College, where she studied piano with Scott Pratt and Amy Zanrosso; Sophie holds a Grand Diplôme in pastry arts from the International Culinary Center, and will be studying music education at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA beginning in the fall, 2021.
Logan
Logan Cain is a Los Angeles based musician—composer, pianist, percussionist, recording engineer, and educator—who specializes in new music and electronic music.
A dedicated teacher, Logan has six years of experience teaching music lessons, including percussion, composition and piano lessons. Through a varied and flexible approach, he prepares students to be well-rounded by regularly incorporating often neglected elements of music, such as improvisation, music theory, music composition, music technology, and recording. Logan explores music from a wide variety of styles and time periods in his lessons, with a focus on students' individual interests and personal goals. He aims to teach music in a way that is fun for the student and encourages them to explore, create, and discover music in new and exciting ways!
Logan’s compositional works are characterized by unique instrumental combinations and a blend of influence from popular music, film music, classical music, and visual art media. Logan readily incorporates electronics in his works with the goal of redefining how audiences experience music. Receiving multiple international premieres, Logan's music has been performed throughout Germany, Italy, Brazil, and the United States.
In addition to composing, Logan has performed with many well-known artists and ensembles, including Sandbox Percussion, Andy Akiho, Charles Peck, and New Morse Code. He frequently performs in a diverse array of musical settings, including wind ensembles, orchestras, operas, chamber groups, big bands, jazz combos, duos, and solo performances. Logan is an active recording artist as a percussionist and pianist, having recorded with the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble under the Klavier and Naxos record labels, as well as recording numerous film scores, jingles, and radio themes.
Logan graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of Kansas in 2019.
Shanice
Shanice Aaron is a classical pianist in Los Angeles who graduated at University of California Los Angeles with a Bachelors of Arts degree. She has won many piano competitions such as the CAPMT Concerto Competition California State Winner, Bellflower Symphony Concerto Competition Winner, and 2nd place at the The American Protégé International Competition making her debut at Carnegie Hall. She also has performed her first piano concerto in Austria with the Vienna International Orchestra making her debut in Europe. She also got invited as a soloist playing a concerto with the City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles Orchestra with conductor Charles Dickerson featuring composer Lukas Richman’s Concerto work, “In Truth” at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Not only solo, but she also has excelled as a chamber musician. Her participation for the past years in chamber music has led her perform in many venues such as Mozarteum Conservatory Salzburg, Italy, Bowdoin Music Festival, Santa Monica College Emeritus College, UCLA Schoenberg hall, and LACMA Live Sunday Broadcast. She also became one of the guest artists to perform chamber music at the Hawaii Chamber Festival in Hawaii.
Shanice has been playing piano for over 15 years and is a patient teacher. She has taught many students of all ages and her passion is to teach piano. Her goal is to see her students become their own best teachers, and for them to love and enjoy music.
Ka
Kä is an experienced instructor with over 6 years of experience teaching flute, guitar, piano, and musicianship. She has acute experience working with students to set and master goals while bringing lively enthusiasm to get them excited about music.
Born and raised in Kerrville, Texas, she started piano at age 6. She went on to learn the guitar and eventually the flute in the middle school band, which would become her main focus. Marching band and state competitions were {super important}, while she also performed with the Hill Country Youth Orchestra and the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. Music was a huge influence on her growing up, so she enjoys sharing it with others in hopes that they’ll have as much fun as she did.
In 2014, her music training led her to Boston where she studied Film Scoring at Berklee College of Music. During her time at Berklee, she performed with over a dozen orchestras, including large orchestral studio sessions and a performance as a soloist in ‘The Lord of the Rings Symphony’ at Boston Symphony Hall receiving a standing ovation from composer Howard Shore.
After completing her degree in 2017, she moved to Los Angeles to intern with Hans Zimmer’s studio, Remote Control Productions. Since moving to Los Angeles, she has has been teaching with ‘Henderson Academy of Music’ as well as freelance composing, and released two singles.
Vision
Vision Wilkes-Davis is a triple-threat singer, pianist and teacher based in Los Angeles who has taught students of all ages and backgrounds. He received a double Bachelor of Music from the acclaimed Wanda L. Bass School of Music. Vision began teaching his senior year of college in Oklahoma City before heading to Los Angeles where he currently teaches voice and piano as his primary instruments along with beginner ukulele and guitar at Glendora Music and Arts School.
Vision is also a seasoned musical theatre performer having starred in regional theatres all over the U.S. Vision loves music because of the sheer power it has to bring joy to people. He finds it very important for students to find the right teacher with whom they can trust and connect with. He wants his students to express themselves without fear of failure.
Walter
Walter is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator who strives in cultivating a collaborative space to learn, connecting each student to whatever they love about music, and leaving them with the confidence to explore it independently.
Walter got his start at just fifteen years old, playing trumpet with soul bands at local venues and festivals in his hometown of Austin, Texas. He later relocated to Dallas to study music composition at the University of North Texas and play in the school’s Grammy nominated jazz ensembles. While in Dallas, Walter produced several exhibitions of his original music and performed with professional cover bands for corporate retreats and large private events throughout Texas and Oklahoma.
Now a resident of Los Angeles, Walter enjoys performing with independent artists, providing music production assistance for local composition studios, and most of all, supporting his students on their own musical journeys.
Walter has performed in the New Orleans Jazz Festival, the Austin Urban Music Festival, South by Southwest, Denton Arts & Jazz and has had his composition and arranging work performed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Allen United Methodist Church Choir and the Westwood United Methodist Church Choir. Walter gives lessons in piano, guitar and trumpet and is a fantastic choice from young beginners to more advanced musicians interested in improvisation, songwriting or music technology.
Sarah
Described by bassist Will Lee (The Late Show with David Letterman) as a "truth teller," Sarah Wise is an alt-americana singer-songwriter with confessional lyrics that are defiant and searing, vulnerable and searching.
Newly residing in Los Angeles, Sarah has performed throughout New York City and the greater Northeast, regularly appearing at Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Pete’s Candy Store and more, and her debut single Hang Tight was featured in The Sleepless.
Since 2019, Sarah has offered private piano and voice instruction in New York City and Los Angeles to over sixty students, sharing over a decade’s worth of professional experience as a touring and session musician.
Sarah also draws from her background as a producer, talent contractor, live sound engineer, day manager and venue talent buyer, and has served as the Associate Director of Artist Bookings at Odyssey Associates since 2021.
While she loves working with beginner to intermediate level students of all ages, Sarah’s undergraduate background in childhood development – including assistant teaching at Sarah Lawrence College’s renowned Early Childhood Center – makes her an especially strong fit for young children.
A proud student of Jackie Presti (Celine Dion), Alex Nolan (Cyndi Lauper) and Clifford Carter (James Taylor), Sarah provides a joyful, nuanced approach to learning with an emphasis on consistent, slow and steady practice spanning a multitude of genres, from pop, rock, jazz and blues to classical, Broadway, country and soul.
Through gentle, clear communication, ample encouragement and unwavering curiosity, Sarah’s thoughtfully tailored lessons include piano and vocal warmups, sight reading, ear training, theory, breathing technique, relaxation exercises and performance coaching.
Nick
Nick Potters is a nationally acclaimed drummer, pianist, producer, engineer, and educator. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the renown music school at William Paterson University, with a concentration in classical piano. For nearly a decade, Nick has been teaching drums, piano, and directing ensembles of students of all ages and abilities. He translates his love for rock, funk, soul, fusion, hip-hop, progressive rock, and metal into his playing, and infuses that love into his teaching. By combining traditional methods with a modern focus, Nick helps his students develop a strong musical ear to become a more well-rounded musician. He believes that having fun & growing a love for music is the most valuable thing a student can take away from lessons with any teacher.
In addition to teaching, Nick has extensive experience as a touring and session musician. He runs daily sessions out of his recording studio in North Hollywood, where he offers remote tracking and production services to clients all over the world.
Nick K
Nick Krauel is from Long Beach, California where he began learning piano at 6 years old. As his musical interests expanded, Nick's path led him to explore wind and percussion instruments alongside his piano studies, and he began performing professionally on piano at age 14 at restaurants, venues, and private events in Long Beach. Nick's passion and dedication to music led him to complete a degree in Jazz Studies from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. Beyond the classroom, Nick is an active member of the musical community, regularly performing at various venues and events in LA and Southern California and recording with different artists and bands. With a background in both performance and education, Nick is committed to providing a well-rounded and inspiring musical education to students of all ages and skill levels. His teaching approach emphasizes a solid technical foundation while encouraging creativity and individual expression. With a patient and encouraging approach, Nick empowers students to overcome challenges and reach new heights in their musical journey. By tailoring lessons to the specific needs and goals of each student, Nick creates an environment where students are motivated to excel and develop a lifelong love for music.
Cathy
Cathy has lived and studied music in China, Canada, Germany, and the United States. Under the tutelage of Kevin Fitz-Gerald, she is currently pursuing a D.M.A. in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the USC Thornton School of Music. She holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Piano Performance from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in Cologne, Germany. In 2006, she won a double first prize at the solo and concerto competition at Ithaca College in Ithaca (NY). In the same year, she was invited by the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation as one of two representatives from Canada to participate in the music festival “Moscow Meets Friends”. In 2010, Cathy won the third prize in her age category at the “International Piano Competition Vila de Capdepera” in Spain. Last year, she received the first place in the Virtuosic Artist group at “Concours International de Concertos IAPMT” in Azusa (CA).
Together with two singers, Cathy founded the Aix Alma Trio and toured Germany twice with unique and engaging programs. She is also the curator and producer of “Fables”, a concert program combining Impressionistic and video game music. With her piano duo partner, Benyamin Nuss, Cathy brought “Fables” to Toronto and to Boston (MA) in an Artist Residency at Wellesley College. In the summer of 2022, Cathy was a Collaborative Piano Fellow at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and worked as the Assistant Music Director for Hair. Recently, she was the music director of Thornton Chamber Opera’s production of Cendrillon by Pauline Viardot. While in Germany, she was invited multiple times by the Collegium Musicum orchestra of the RWTH Aachen to perform as the soloist. She also performed as a soloist with orchestra in Bydgoszcz, Poland.