FACULTY
PIANO
Tanya Schwartzman - Music Theory, Organ, Chamber Music
Tanya Schwartzman is the Music Director of the Sharon Music Academy, which she has founded in 1990. She is Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, Master Teacher of World Piano Competition and is a faculty member of several international summer music programs. Tanya holds MA in Musical Education from the prestigious Novosibisrk Conservatory (Russia) and conducted postgraduate studies at the Moscow Pedagogical University, where she subsequently taught piano pedagogy to the future piano teachers. She is the author of several articles in the field of Music Theory and Pedagogy. Among her students are many winners of local, national and prestigious international piano competitions, including International Young Artists Competition in Washington, DC, Manchester Young Artist Competition in Connecticut, Young Promise International Music Competition. Tanya’s students have been selected to perform in Holland, Switzerland and France, as well as on the famous stages in US, such as Carnegie Hall in New York and John. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
She is frequently invited to serve as a judge at various piano competitions.
Vivian Chen - Music Theory
Vivian Chen holds Doctoral Degree in Piano Performance from Rutgers University and MM in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory. She has studied with world renown professors Paul Hoffman and Victor Rosenbaum. Vivian is a recepient of Edna S. Mason Scholarship and has performed on various concert stages in US and abroad. She is a former faculty member of Rutgers University and has been teaching beginners and undergraduate music major students since 1997.
Iryna Gendin
Iryna holds MA in Musical Education from Lvov State Conservatory (Ukraine) and B.A. in Piano Performance from Dnepropetrovsk College of Music (Ukraine). She was a faculty member of the Ukraine National Music School for Gifted Children and prepared many winners of the national competitions. She has 20 years of experience teaching piano. Among her students are the winners of the American Fine Arts Festival in New York and Young Soloists Festival in New Hampshire.
Lilit Karapetian - Ear Training, Music Theory
Lilit is a graduate of the famous Moscow Conservatory and was a student of the internationally acclaimed pianists Mikhail Pletnev and Lev Vlasenko. She has performed extensively in her native Armenia, Russia as well as internationally to high acclaim in the press and from the renowned authorities in the musical world, including praise from Paul Badura Skoda, Mikhail Pletnev and Daniel Pollock. Lilit has had an impressive number of solo recitals in Syria, Jordan, the United States, Great Britain and Argentina. In 1994 she was invited to perform in the prestigious Grande Finale concert together with Ann Shein, a world-famous pianist, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Her 1995 recital at the Washington Arts Club and a series of concerts in Buenos-Aires and Cordoba in 1996 were highly praised by international press and the local musical circles. She also performed with the Arlington Symphony and the Williamsburg Symphony orchestras. In 2006-2007 she had solo recitals in Venice, in the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome and Teatro di Marcello of Rome (Italy). Lilit has authored several articles on musicology and theory of piano interpretation. She has been teaching piano for more than 15 years. She is on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Lisa Leong - Music Theory
Lisa Leong has worked with composers such as John Cage, Mario Davidovsky, Steven Stucky, Gunther Schuller, Alvin Singleton and Chen Yi. Her interest in new music has led to performances with the Auros Group for New Music and Underground Composers in Boston, Ensemble X, Mother Mallard's Portable masterpiece, Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players, Milwaukee Symphony clarinetist William Helmers, Thamyris, and Soli. As a winner of the Schubert Club's Young Artist of the Year, she appeared as soloist in Ravel's Piano Concerto in G with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In June 2004, she appeared at the Institute and Festival of Contemporary Performance at Mannes College in New York, alongside members of Speculum Musicae. Her performances have been broadcast on Radio France, WGBH in Boston, Georgia Public Radio's "Atlanta Music Scene," and recorded by National Public Radio's "Performance Today" . Ms. Leong was Artist Affiliate at Emory University and adjunct faculty at Clayton State University. She graduated with an MM in Piano Performance at New England Conservatory, where she studied with Veronica Jochum and Stephen Drury. She is also the pianist for the Atlanta-based ensemble Bent Frequency and Sonic Generator at Gerogia institute of Technology. Lisa has been teaching in various music schools for more than 10 years.
Dizhou Zhao
Dizhou is currently a Candidate of Doctor in Music Art at Boston University. He holds Artist Diploma in Piano Performance from Longy School of Music and Graduate Diploma in Piano Performance and Master of Music in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory. He is a student of legendary pianists such as Russell Sherman, Alexander Korsantia and Victor Rosenbaum. He has been teaching piano since 2000 and has been the faculty member of the prestigious music schools - River School of Music and Royal Academy of Music in Wocester. He is also an actively performing artist. His performances in Australia, France, Japan and United States gathered high acclaim from the press. He has recorded several solo CDs in Russia and concerto performance with Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Australia. Dizhou is the 1st Prize Winner of the Dorothy Mackenzie Award in New York, 1st Prize Winner of the 2nd Louisiana International Competition, 2nd Prize winner of the 53rd World Piano Competition in Ohio and is the recipient of many other prestigious music awards.
Nicolai Lomov - Piano Master Classes
Nicolai's talent was recognized at an early age and by age five he was selected to be a student at the Mussorgsky State School for Gifted Children. His formative training took place at the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, completing his PHD in 1971. While still a student he represented Russia in numerous international competitions, including the Beethoven, Montreal, and Queen Elizabeth in Brussels. Over the next twenty years he performed numerous recitals throughout the former Soviet Union and was a soloist with many major Russian orchestras, including the famous Moscow and Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestras. His solo performances are recorded on CD, are often aired on the radio, and are reviewed in newspaper and magazine articles. Mr. Lomov has been teaching piano and chamber music for more than 35 years at the prestigious conservatoires in Russia and USA including the St. Petersburg Conservatoire (Russia), New England Conservatory and Adamant School of Music, Vermont. Mr. Lomov has judged multiple local, national and international competitions.
Tanya Levina
Tanya has more than 25 years of experience teaching music and piano performance. She is an assistant to professors of New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, where she works with the students, who compete in international piano competitions. Tanya is a Certified "Music Together" instructor and holds BA in piano performance and early childhood education from highly acclaimed Gorky State Conservatory, Russia. She also graduated from the same conservatory with double MA degree in piano performance and music theory and composition.
Synthia Sture
Synthia holds MM in piano performance from Longy School of Music, where she studied piano with Wayman Chin and jazz piano with Peter Cassino, and BM from the Latvian Music Academy, Riga, Latvia. She has extensively performed in US and on many stages throughout the world, including Germany, Japan, France and South Korea. She is the 1st Prize winner of La Grange Symphony Orchestra Competition, La Grange, Georgia. She is an accomplished accompanist and frequently works at Longy School of Music, Tufts University and Leslie University as well as with various chamber ensembles throughout New England. She has been teaching piano since 1990. Synthia is a Doctorate Candidate in Piano Performance at Boston University.
Young Sun - Ear Training, Organ
Young holds Doctorate Degree in Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from Boston University and MA Degree in Piano from New England Conservatory. She worked as a pianist and a substitute director of Boston University Choral Society and with Youth Chorale of New England Conservatory. She has given many solo performances all over the world and has performed chamber music with many world renowned musicians. Young is a church organist and a choir director and has been teaching piano in Boston area since 1997.
STRINGS
Igor Cherevko - Violin
Igor holds Master of Music in Violin Performance Degree from renowned Odessa Conservatory (Ukraine). He has been a chair of the string department at the State Music College (Ukraine), where he worked with gifted children and taught future violin teachers violin pedagogy. He has been performing as a soloist and concertmaster of the Ukraine Chamber orchestra and is currently an active member of Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra, MA; Cape Symphony Orchestra ,MA; Nashua Symphony Orchestra, NH and Bangor Symphony Orchestra, ME.
Jo Manning - Violin, Viola, Early Childhood Music Education, Suzuki Violin
Jo Francine Manning-Souza has received a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from The Boston Conservatory of Music. She is a violinist with certification in the 10 volumes of the Suzuki Method as well as Orff for General Music. She has her certification in grades Pre-K-12 and has taught at all levels in the public school and college. Her students have won awards at Disney World, Six Flags, and at the Junior and Senior Districts and Semsba Festivals. Ms. Manning belongs to The Star Players of Taunton, the Newton Symphony and The Boston Repertory Orchestra. She is the solo violinist for St. Mary's Church in Mansfield. Ms. Manning has played at Boston Symphony Hall and Lincoln Center with the Newton Symphony.
Clayton Mathews - Violin
Clayton Mathews is a graduate of Berklee College of Music where he studied violin performance and music production. He started to play violin at age 8 and through high school he played in New World Youth Symphony Orchestra and jazz combos. He has toured the United States with an international orchestra under the Patronage of Queens Noor and Rania of Jordan and Saudi Arabia for artist Zade Dirani and has received a Congressional Commendation Congresswoman Jane Harman for his efforts in community service. Clayton has developed a repertoire of compositions that combines his classical training and improvising elements of jazz and bluegrass. He has closely worked with artists Phillip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire) and Gloria Estefan, Howard Shore, Steve Gadd and has recently preformed at the National 4th of July Parade in Washington D.C. Clayton has frequently caught the attention of the press, including a cover article in the Boston Globe for “Bluegrass Goes Bigtime at Berklee”, a Cambridge Imagine Magazine feature “Clayton Mathews, Berklee Bourgeoning Jazz Violinist”, and an interview on the subject of “non-verbal communication” with Psychology Today Magazine.
Michal Shein - Cello, Early Childhood Music Education, Chamber Music
Michal holds Masters Degree from New England Conservatory. She is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston String Quartet, and principal cellist of Discovery Ensemble. She also performs with others groups in Boston such as Isabella Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra, the Atlantic Symphony, and Neponset Valley Philharmonic Orchestra. Most recently, Michal was selected to play with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, which had its successful debut at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Under the Harriet Woolley Scholarhsip she spent two years in Paris studying cello. She has won numerous competitions and awards, including the New England Conservatory Honors Chamber Group, the Hertz Traveling Fellowship, and the Witzel prize. A dedicated teacher and a music educator Michal often visits senior homes, schools, and libraries to bring music to the community.
WOODWINDS
Mario Cerra - Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute
Mario is a graduate of the University of Music of Rosario, Argentina and Berklee College of Music. He is a receipient of Joe Viola Award. Mario is a renowned performing and recording artist with many CDs, live and TV performances and radio concerts to his credit. He has performed with internationally acclaimed artists including Greg Hopkins, Joe Lovano, and Maria Schneider. He has been teaching woodwinds from 1996 and is currently on the faculty of Brookline Music School.
Ashley Paul - Saxophone, Clarinet, Piano, Jazz Improvisation and Composition
Ashley holds a Master of Music Degree in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory. She is an actively performing and recording artist and performs regularly with Anthony Coleman and in his new band “It Was In a Hotel”. Ashley has performed with many well-known musicians such as Phill Niblock, Loren Connors, Michael Attias, Doug Weiselman, Charles Cohen, Eli Keszler, Ran Blake, Hankus Netsky, George Russell, Greg Kelley and Joe Morris. Phill Niblock specifically wrote a piece for Ashley and Eli Keszler. She was 2008 artist-in-residence at ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn, NY. Her latest CD "DOL" has been featured in the prestigious WIRE magazine. Ashley has been awarded 2010 Fellowship Merit Award from Rhode Island Arts State Council. She is often invited to play at the Jazz festivals all over the world. Ashley has been teaching since 1998.
GUITAR
Mark Anderson
Mark holds B. A. in music and jazz performance, University of New Orleans. He has studied classical guitar with Miroslav Loncar at Rotterdam Conservatory for Music, Netherlands. Mark is three times First Place winner of Aguado Guitar Competition; First and Second Place winner of Lake Guntersville Guitar Competition;Outstanding Musician Award at the State University Jazz Band Festival. His radio performance of the original music broadcast internationally on the Codarts Radio Station,Holland. He has performanced with world-renowned guitarist Philip Catherine and at various stages and venues all around the world. His teaching incorporates composition, fingerboard technique, rhythmic concepts, improvisational techniques, practice ethics and music theory. Mark also teaches Rock, Jazz composition, Tango guitar, Brazilian Bossa Nova and Latin arranging. He is a former faculty member of University of Rhode Island Preparatory Program.
Björn Wennås
Björn received a BA from Uppsala University, a Diploma from Berklee College of Music, and MM with distinction from Longy School of Music. He made his debut on stage at the age of 12 with the Flamenco group Los Dos Jovenes led by acclaimed guitarist and educator Miroslav Simic. Björn eventually developed an interest in jazz and went on to play guitar in several big bands and smaller ensembles. He was nominated in 2004 for the "Just Plain Folk&s Award" for the best jazz vocal composition and in 2005 he was a finalist in the International Massimo Urbani Competition , a jazz soloist competition that takes place in Camerino, Italy. Björn is an active composer and currently co-leads BC Quintet featuring his original compositions drawing inspiration from both rock and jazz tradition as well as from contemporary music. He also frequently performs with Newpoli, a Southern Italian Folk Ensemble, and plays classical guitar solos, duos and trios.
VOCAL
Victor Kray
Victor Kray is a vocal teacher and music producer with 30 years of professional experience as a session singer, keyboard player, and arranger. Being both a singer and a record producer, he understands all aspects of vocal artistry for stage performance and recording. He has developed a unique method of “voice tuning” - the technique he uses to teach singers to stay in tune. He coaches “a cappella” ensembles and produces recordings at Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown, Boston University, Tufts University, Bentley College, Brandeis University and other colleges. Victor’s work with “Dartmouth Aires” has won Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) for Best All-Male Collegiate Album in 2003 and 2005. During his tenure as an executive producer and music director of Megapolis International Agency in Moscow, Victor has created and produced recordings for four rock and pop bands, while contributing as a composer, arranger and lead singer to many of their hits. He is a graduate of Kiev Conservatory and Jazz Music School with major in vocal and piano. His students have successful singing careers all over the world.
Faculty At-A-Glance
When we began this venture, we conceived Sharon Music Academy to be a contributing cultural force in the local community. We knew that it would attract talented teachers, but the faculty roster that we have developed over the years is beyond our wildest dreams. We are thrilled that so many world-class musicians and educators have signed up to be part of this program.
We have teachers with the Doctorate Degrees in Music, winners of prestigious competitions, award winning and recording artists.
We have spent a lot of time and effort to select the best music instructors for our students. We always search for instructors, who are highly professional, love to teach and have a complete dedication to their students. That is why so many students of the Sharon Music Academy stay in touch with their instructors long after they graduate from our Academy.
Every year the faculty of the Sharon Music Academy gives a concert as a part of a fundraising event to benefit some charitable cause. For all our students and community at-large this highly entertaining and educational event serves as an inspiration to study music. Clips from these concerts can be found in our Media Archive.
