Welcome Evan McAuley to the Encore Music Studios teaching staff! He is a recent graduate of Ohio University School of Music, where he received his Master's of Music in Music History and Literature. He received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Capital University in 2018, and his Master's of Music in Piano Pedagogy/ Performance from OU in 2020.
Evan is active in applied research, evident from his presentations at Capital’s Undergraduate Research Symposium in 2018 (titled “Teaching Music in the 21st Century: The Implementation of Technology into Popular Music Pedagogy Methods”) and at the MTNA Piano Pedagogy Symposium in 2020 (titled “What I Learned About Group Piano Teaching from Playing Video Games: Teaching Takeaways from MMORPGs”). Additionally, his most recent Master's in Music History and Literature focused on the piano works of Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov, in the hopes of bringing his multifaceted piano pieces to the forefront of advanced and collegiate repertoire. During his time at OU, he was an active member of OU’s MTNA collegiate chapter, serving as their Treasurer for two years.
It's
Time
. . . to begin preparing for the Spring Recitals on Saturday, May 21st, and they will be live at the Church of the Master United Methodist on 24 N. Grove St. in Westerville. We would love to hear from all our guitar, voice, piano, violin, trumpet, trombone, flute, ukulele, bass guitar, and drums students! We were blessed by many wonderful musical performances in the Autumn of 2021.
Thank you to all who have reviewed Encore Music Studios, the Columbus Academy of Music, and the Westerville Academy of Music on Google, Thumbtack, lessons.com, Angi,
Facebook, etc . . . We have a Google 5 star rating for our Westerville location and just
moved from 4.6 to 4.7 stars at the Columbus Academy of Music location! It makes a big difference for us in attracting new music students to serve.
Welcome Dasha to Encore Music Studios! At 3 years old, she began singing in church and started piano lessons at age 5, studying under Nina Polonsky. She soon began to show interest in composition and consequently created many piano pieces throughout her childhood and teenage years. Locally, at Gahanna Lincoln High School, Dasha participated in the theatre program and performed in the freshman choir and concert choir; as well as continuing her piano studies under the tutelage of Marina Arishina, eventually gaining entrance to the Otterbein University School of Music. Dasha studied under Dr. Nick Ross for piano, Dr. Jennifer Merkowitz for composition and Dr. Suzanne Newcom for chamber and collaborative piano. Dasha participated in an avante-garde music group, Concert Choir, Women's Chorale, an a cappella pop and jazz choral group, multiple chamber groups, performed with the orchestra, and collaborated with many different groups of people and styles for her compositions.
Starting her second year at Otterbein, Dasha began to teach her own piano students. Following her graduation, Dasha mainly turned her attention towards building up the caliber of musical repertoire at church and to actively participating with her youth group and instructing her piano students. She has been able to use what she has learned to arrange music and teach choral skills. Music has held an important part in Dasha's life and she is happy to share that with others. Dasha instills a disciplined approach and maximum effort in her students, mixed with wonder and joy through the music they may be playing or creating themselves. She enjoys seeing her students' excitement and their personal and piano skills growth.
Thank you to Dr. Jack D. Allen, my father, for shooting pictures at Encore on Feb. 24th at the Westerville Studio. They're GREAT!
Welcome to Chris Hines, our 2nd Brass teaching specialist who can also teach piano and voice lessons!
Chris Hines is a Columbus-based educator, performer and arranger. A versatile educator, he has taught band, choir and Advanced Placement music theory. He is also on the brass education team at the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps in Casper, Wyoming. In addition to working with several marching bands in the Columbus area, Chris enjoys an exciting performing career. As a jazz trombonist Chris has shared the stage with such players as Jiggs Whigham, Bill Watrous and Paul Ferguson and has been an arranger for Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra. Chris is also a member of the Largemouth Brass Band and the Brooklyn Ludlow Future Jazz Project. As a Euphonium player, Chris is a member of the first section NABBA champions, the Dublin Silver Band.
Chris is a graduate of Capital University where he attained a degree in Music Education. A firm believer in Kodály pedagogy, he has studied at the Kodály School of the Franz Liszt Academy of music in Kesckemét, Hungary. After doing extensive research on the positive effects the Kodály philosophy has on brass players, his research was selected to be presented at the Nation Conference on Undergraduate Research in 2015. Highly engaged in the realm of drum corps and marching band from an early age, Hines’ marching experiences include one year with the Glassmen and three years with the world champion Bluecoats.
Thank you parents for your continued support of your children's progress in music lessons here at Encore! Let us know if there is anything, additionally, we can do to aid your child's success.
Brad Allen, Director
Encore Music Studios
The Columbus Academy of Music
The Westerville Academy of Music