Faculty

Piano

Esther Kwon - B.A. in Piano Performance from George Mason University and studied with Dr. Anna Balakerskaia. Harmony Road Certified Music teacher with more than 10 years teaching experience and she is an active church musician. Esther studied with Eriko Robilette. Her students have received awards and performed at the Carnegie Hall past consecutive years. Her students have earned awards in various competitions and festivals, including NVMTA and International. She has experience teaching students of all ages and abilities, beginner through advanced.

Diane Moody - Diane Moody did her Doctoral work in Musicology at Catholic University in DC; graduate work at the University of Louisville in composition; M.M in performance from the University of Richmond and Shenandoah Conservatory. B.M in Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she coached chamber and duo-piano ensembles and taught music classes for dancers as Adjunct-Faculty for the music and dance department. Performance certificates from Fontainebleau, France with Nadia Boulanger and Ewa Boukojemska; and from Conservatoire de Sion, Suisse with Bela Boszormenyi-Nagy; private lessons with Kendall Taylor in London. She has worked as accompanist and she has been teaching piano since the age of 18.

Shinae Song - B.A. in Piano Performance from Ewha Womans University (South Korea). She received awards from various national piano performance competitions in South Korea. With the teacher's certification in music, she has spent several years developing her skills as a competent teacher for all age groups. She has more than 7 years of experience in teaching piano to students ranging from elementary school to adults.

Yousun Choi - A native of Bethesda, Maryland, she has received B.M. Piano Performance from University of Michigan and further studied Master’s at Indiana University. She has performed at Zephyr International Festival for chamber music and has extensive accompanying experiences.

Natalia Nelson - holds diploma in Piano Performance from Music Gymnasium of Art in Belarus. She completed eleven years of studies of music and classical piano playing. She has been working as a professional piano teacher for the last fifteen years. Her students have received awards in various competitions and festivals. She has experience teaching students of all ages and abilities - beginner through advanced. She enjoys to perform to audiences at local churches, community centers and recital halls. Also, she holds a university philology degree in Russian Language and Literature.

Karen Wu - holds a bachelor's and master's degree in classical piano performance from California State University, Northridge. A student of Françoise Regnat, Karen's performances have included solo recitals, chamber music, and accompanying for instrumentalists and vocalists. As a winner of the CSUN Concerto Competition in California, Karen performed Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 1 with the CSUN symphony. She served as a coordinator of the Sonata/Sonatina competition sponsored by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, and was an adjunct instructor at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles. A native of Taiwan, Karen has taught students of all ages and levels for over twenty years and is experienced with various teaching methods. Her students have completed Level 10 of the Music Teachers' Association of California Certificate of Merit program. Karen's teaching style is based on technique and consistency, a foundation which she encourages students to embrace for success in all subjects of their academic studies.

Guitar

Michael Caracciolo - a native of Woodbridge, Virginia, is a professional classical guitarist who graduated summa cum laude with a Master’s in Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (‘19) and a Bachelor’s in Music from George Mason University (‘17). He studied guitar with Clare Callahan and Larry Snitzler, both students of Andrés Segovia, as well as Matthew Trkula. Michael has experience in solo, chamber, and large ensemble performance, and recently toured France and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a member of the United States Guitar Orchestra. As an educator, Michael studied guitar pedagogy with Glen McCarthy, a Grammy-nominated educator in the guitar field, and served as Graduate Teaching Assistant to Clare Callahan in Cincinnati, where he taught students privately and in a classroom setting at the university.

Piano & Guitar

Heerak Kim - B.A. in Music Technology and Piano at George Mason University. Heerak Kim has both engineering and music background, combining both science and music he has been studying music production in addition to classical piano. He has many experience in teaching piano and guitar to young students. He has been active in performing as a lead guitarist and keyboardist at local churches.

Violin

Lauren Haren- B.M. Violin Performance and M.M. Viola Performance at the University of Akron studying under Alan Bodman and Cory Smith. Lauren is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society and Golden Key. Lauren attended Brevard Music Center on scholarship and has participated in many masterclasses. Lauren has also earned a certificate with distinction from Northwestern University and Coursera for completing the course "Teaching the Violin and Viola: Creating a Healthy Foundation".

Cello

Ryan Nobles - She graduated with a Master's in Music in Cello Performance from George Mason University in 2012 and a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance from the University of Mary Washington in 2006. Ms. Nobles served as principal cellist of the GMU Symphony orchestra in 2012, was principal cellist of the University of Mary Washington College-Community Orchestra 2003-2006, and was selected to perform in George Mason School of Music 2011 Honors Recital. Ms. Nobles performed with the University of Mary Washington College-Community Orchestra as a high school student for their Carnegie Hall performance in 2002 and has worked with the Canadian Brass, Judy Collins, Marvin Hamlisch, O.A.R., and Michael W. Smith. Ms. Nobles has also performed with the Rappahannock Pops Orchestra, Piedmont Symphony, Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra, Spotswood Community Orchestra, McLean Orchestra, American Festival Pops Orchestra, and Bel Cantanti Opera Chamber Orchestra.

Violin/Viola and Piano

Hyunjung Mia Allen - B.M. in Violin and Piano from HyoSung Woman's University in South Korea (1993). Mia was concertmaster at Hawaii Pacific University for four years (2010). She has been teaching all ages of students over 20 years. Her students has received great results in competition and festivals.

Dr. Rami Kanaan - graduated with honors (first prize) from the High Institute of Music in Damascus, Syria in 1998. He completed his Master of Arts in violin performance and Doctorate of Arts in higher education at George Mason University in 2007. He studied violin performance with Professor Edwin Johonnott, a former violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra. Rami was a violin instructor at the University of Mary Washington in 2002-2006. He served as concertmaster of the University’s orchestra and assisted in directing the chamber orchestra. Currently, Rami is a violin instructor at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Rami has also performed with many local orchestras and ensembles. He is currently a member of the American Pops Festival Orchestra.

Violin, Viola & Cello

Tresa Scruggs - She is attending George Mason University in the fall for a Masters in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience to study the neural basis of music learning. She received her undergraduate degree at Lynchburg College where she received a BA in Music Education and served as concertmaster and frequent soloist with the Lynchburg College Symphony. She also started the school's first Celtic music ensemble and taught both violin and fiddle lessons. After that, She served as a middle school orchestra director with Stafford County Schools for several years where her ensembles consistently received the highest scoring at district orchestra festivals. She currently plays with the Rappahanock Pops Orchestra in Fredericksburg.

Art

Elaine Kim