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 teaches 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 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!
Sarah
Sarah is described by bassist Will Lee (The Late Show with David Letterman) as a "truth teller," Sarah Wise is an alt-Americana singer-songwriter drawing influence from the raw emotion of Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin and Margo Price, with confessional lyrics that are defiant and searing, vulnerable and searching.
Sarah has performed her original songs throughout New York City and the northeast, making regular appearances at Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Arlene’s Grocery, Pete’s Candy Store and more, and newly resides in Los Angeles.
Sarah’s debut single Hang Tight - co-produced by Tim Hatfield (Death Cab for Cutie) and Ann Klein (Ani DiFranco) - was featured in “The Sleepless” and includes Clifford Carter (James Taylor) on keys, Jack Daley (Lenny Kravitz) on bass, Tony Mason (Shooter Jennings) on drums and Klein on lead guitar, and she eagerly anticipates her return to the studio.
Along with writing and performing original songs and teaching piano and voice, Sarah also works as a live and session background vocalist (Garland Jeffreys, Lizzie and the Makers, Clara Lofaro) producer, contractor, live sound engineer, day manager and business consultant for independent musical artists, talent buyer for The Bitter End and is the Associate Director of Artist Bookings at Odyssey Associates.
A proud student of Jackie Presti, Alex Nolan, Ann Klein and Clifford Carter, 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 younger students.
Providing private beginner to intermediate level instruction in piano and voice since 2019, Sarah’s gentle, nuanced approach to teaching emphasizes sensitive, clear communication, consistent practice, curiosity and a strong focus on performance, sight reading, ear training and theory.
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.