PIANO

Students enrolled in piano programs at CSM range in age from pre-school to adult and are studying at beginning through advanced levels. Experienced faculty members teach a variety of styles including classical, pop, jazz, and improvisational. Music theory and technique are included in each lesson. At the end of the semester, students are encouraged to perform in a studio recital in the CSM Recital Hall. Once a year, the CSM Piano Festival is held. Students perform before an adjudicator and each is presented with a written critique and a certificate of accomplishment. Those who have prepared an outstanding audition for that year are recipients of special awards at that event. Contests and festivals are available in the community and many students prepare to enter these at the discretion of the instructor.

Instructors

Yan Westerlund - Cary, NC — Cary School of Music

Yan Westerlund hails from Eau Claire, WI, where he started studying drums and piano at the age of eight years old. He picked up alto saxophone in middle school, joining the concert and jazz bands while also teaching himself to play guitar. By 7th grade, Yan began composing original music for his own bands to perform as well as covering songs ranging from those of Steppenwolf, RUN DMC, and the iconic Mortal Combat theme song. Yan quickly took a liking to performing at school talent shows, fundraisers, graduation parties, YMCA lock-ins and Battle of the Bands competitions. He eventually joined his high school jazz band playing drums, with whom he performed on Lincoln Center Stage in NYC for the renowned Essential Ellington Jazz Festival for two consecutive years. That experience, as well as other jazz band performances backing legends like Clark Terry, Seneca Black, and Randy Sabien inspired Yan to continue to pursue music at the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies. There, he studied percussion, drum set and piano with professors Dave Schmalenberger, Ryan Frane, Gene Koshinski, Charles Brooks and Nickolai Zielinski. Yan continued to have opportunities backing acclaimed jazz artists like Billy Taylor, Joey Defrancesco, Robin Eubanks, Greg Abate, and SO Percussion through the UMD music department.

In 2009, Yan relocated to Durham, NC, with his long-time band, Canine Heart Sounds. He quickly became busy working as a studio and touring drummer for many renowned artists, including Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls, Sylvan Esso, Tallest Man On Earth, Waxahatchee, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Mipso, Basia Bulat, Bowerbirds, Phil Cook, Lost In The Trees and many others. These tours brought Yan to acclaimed music festival stages all over the world, including Prima Vera Sound, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Roskilde, Iceland Airwaves, Pitchfork, Big Ears, All Points East, NOLA Jazz Fest, Montreux Jazz Fest, Calgary Folk Fest, and various others, as well as performing on prime time television broadcasts like the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and CBS Saturday Morning.

Yan also leads his own instrumental group, Quetico, as the sole composer and drummer. Quetico released their sophomore album Know You Are in 2022, which was followed by a festival performance curated by Durham

record label Psychic Hotline. Quetico shared the stage with acclaimed artists like Arooj Aftab, Bartees Strange, Indigo De Souza, Lambchop and many others.

Starting back at Schmitt Music during his freshman year of college and continuing throughout his career, Yan has maintained a strong passion for teaching music. He loves sharing his musical approaches, ranging from improvisational skills to traditional technique to navigating the music industry. Yan's main goal with every lesson is to maintain excitement, focus and creativity. He hopes to inspire each student to set individual goals and eventually create their own unique, musical voice.

Ana Nero received her Diploma of Piano degree from the Kurgan Regional Music College in Russia, and her BA in Publishing from Chelyabinsk Academy of Culture. She was a full-time teacher at the Harmony School in Russia for 15 years where she assisted in staging plays and recitals, prepared students for regional competitions, and accompanied choir, ballet, and vocal ensembles. She has been performing and teaching in the US since 2004. Her students have consistently ranked in the highest levels of the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC). She was awarded “Teaching Excellence in Preparing Students for Music Legacy Open Competition”.

Ana has developed an innovative program for piano instruction for very young students and is proficient in teaching music improvisation and theory. She is dedicated to helping students develop to the best of their abilities using her wide knowledge and range of teaching skills and techniques to achieve this goal with students of all levels and ages.

Jared Alan Yoakem - Cary, NC — Cary School of Music

Robert Beverly is a Music Industry Studies graduate from Appalachian State University, with a concentration in piano performance and recording/production. His passion for music is evident in his work as a keyboardist, guitarist, and producer for the indie/alternative band "Barefoot Modern." Robert believes that music has the power to enrich people's lives on intellectual, emotional, and spiritual levels, and he is committed to sharing that message through his performances and teaching. He is a dedicated musician who strives to create a unique sound and experience for every audience, blending his technical proficiency with his creative flair. Whether he's performing with his band or teaching, Robert approaches music with a contagious energy and enthusiasm. His love for music shines through in everything he does, and he is always looking for new ways to push the boundaries of his craft.

Philip van Lidth de Jeude, voice and piano Instructor - Cary, NC

Philip van Lidth de Jeude has been teaching voice and piano at CSM since July 2013 and has participated in several faculty concerts. An alumnus of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the Ryan Opera Center in Chicago, he sang several supporting roles with its parent company, Lyric Opera of Chicago. Winning a Bronze Medal in the 1981 International Competition for Musical Performance in Geneva, Switzerland, he began a free-lance career, singing supporting and leading baritone roles in several theaters in the U.S. In August 1982, Wolf Trap Opera featured him as Ben Hubbard in a revival of Marc Blitzstein’s Regina (based on Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes). Michigan opera Theater featured him as Miecznik in the U.S. premiere of Moniuszko’s The Haunted Castle later that year. Beginning the transition to tenor in 1983, he was included in the Dictionary of International Biography, Volume XIX, in 1984 and in the International Who’s Who in Music, Tenth Edition, in 1985.

He resumed singing as a tenor in 1986 in various concerts in the U.S. before going to Zurich, where he made his European tenor debut as Malcolm in Macbeth with the Zurich Opera. In his first permanent engagement in Würzburg, he sang the title role in the German Premiere of Lorenzo Ferrero’s Salvatore Giuliano. He has sung extensively throughout the German-speaking areas of Europe and in the Netherlands, performing with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, Cologne Opera, Bavarian State Theater at Gärtnerplatz, and Nuremberg, among many others. Roles he has sung include Otello, Canio (I Pagliacci), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Radames (Aida) and Don Jose (Carmen). During the summer of 1995 he sang the role of Samson (Samson et Dalila) at the Spanga Opera Festival in the Netherlands to critical acclaim, and he has won special praise as Florestan, Peter Grimes, and the Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia.

In addition to portraying Harry McAfee in Bye Bye Birdie, Pierre/The Red Shadow in Desert Song and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (in both English and German translation), among other musicals, Mr. van Lidth also made a foray into the world of film acting. He played the Generalissimo in Abel, the Flying Lift Boy by BOS Bros. Film-TV Productions, based on the children’s book by Annie M. G. Schmidt, one of the most successful Dutch films of the past decades, having been shown by both WDR and Kinderkanal in Germany.

Continuing to appear in concert and recital, he has collaborated with pianist Deborah Lee Hollis in lecturing on and performing Schubert’s Winterreise at Duke University with a period fortepiano. Speaking five languages and singing in three others besides, his other interests include composing, arranging music, playwriting, film and theater, and he specializes in ear training and basic keyboard harmony as well as music theory.

Jon Cheney — Cary, NC — Cary School of Music

Jon Cheney is a private music instructor, composer and performer from Fayetteville, North Carolina. After completing a BA from Campbell University with a double major in music composition and acting, Jon spent the years from 2013-2018 teaching private lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drum set, and mandolin in various studios, including here at the Cary School of Music! In addition to his teaching schedule, Jon has served as guitarist, singer, and composer/arranger for East Coast Entertainment artist Bantum Rooster since 2011. As a composer, Jon has premiered works for choir, solo piano, solo guitar, and string quartet. As of 2020, Jon has completed a Master’s Degree in theory and composition and is excited about expanding his performing opportunities and returning to Cary to bring musical knowledge to students of all ages!

Marianna D'Andrea — Cary, NC — Cary School of Music

Tanya Volkov

Piano and Voice

Tanya Volkov graduated with a B.A. degree in music from the Music College of Novorossiysk. She also obtained a B.M. degree from the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Arts with a focus in choir and pedagogy. While pursuing her degrees, she participated in multiple choirs as a soloist and choirmaster assistant. In 1995, she was a part of the Krasnoyarsk City Choir which participated in the Tampere Choir Festival in Finland, winning first place in the competition.

Tanya’s experience includes teaching piano, vocals, music history, and music theory to students of all ages and skill levels. In 1997 she moved to the United States and started a new career in California. Since then, she has been working for various music companies and became self employed as a private piano and voice teacher. In 2021, Tanya moved from California to North Carolina continuing her career in the beautiful state of North Carolina.

Robin Morace — Cary, NC — Cary School of Music

Robin Morace maintains an interest in music from many times and places, and is accordingly comfortable on both modern and historical keyboard instruments. Holding degrees in composition and performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia, where he studied piano with Fr. Seán Duggan, he currently studies modern piano, fortepiano, and harpsichord with Dr. Andrew Willis at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His major research project argues that one of Chopin’s most popular works is a musical manifestation of his widely-noted gift for mimicry, and is in fact a subtle pastiche rather than an entirely original work. Mr. Morace’s musical education has been supplemented by summer classes at the Académie de Musique Tibor Varga (Sion, Switzerland) with Konstantin Scherbakov, at the Prague Conservatoire with Ivo Kahánek and Avedis Kouyoumdjian, at the Académie Orford (Québec, Canada) with Jean Saulnier and André Laplante, and at the Chopin Institute’s summer course in Radziejowice, Poland, where he worked with Alexei Lubimov and Tobias Koch on historical pianos.

Stephanie Schmidt - Piano Instructor - Cary, NC

Stephanie Schmidt has a BM degree with a major in piano performance and piano pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, a MM in piano and organ with piano pedagogy from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and is currently completing the DMA in Piano Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has had extensive experience as a piano instructor, accompanist and performer both in group and private arenas including UNCG Music camps, Festival Theater Creativity Summer Camps in WI, the Goshen College Community Music School in IN and the Defrain Music Studio in NE. Stephanie has been an adjudicator in competitions and Piano Festivals for NFMC , NCTMA and others. She has been a presenter and performer in the NCMTA and has recordings and publications available on media. Stephanie is sought out as a performer throughout the Triangle and other areas as a soloist, as a member of chamber music ensembles, and as an accompanist. She continues to participate in workshops, presentations and performances in many states including VA, NY, SD, and IL. Stephanie has been a popular and vibrant musician and piano instructor at CSM since 2014.

Cindy Rockhoff - Piano Instructor - Cary, NC

Mrs. Cindy Rockhoff teaches piano on a part-time basis here at CSM. She teaches students of all ages and levels. Mrs. Rockhoff is also an organist and pianist, currently serving as pianist and choir director at Tree of Life Lutheran church in Cary, where her husband is pastor. Mrs. Rockhoff has been serving in the roles of church organist, pianist, and choir accompanist for 34 years, and has given piano lessons for more than 30 years, both in her home studio and in a public studio. Additionally, she has been a classroom teacher of Preschool and Kindergarten for 15 years and has also taught remedial and enrichment classes to small groups of students in grades 1-8 for many years. Mrs. Rockhoff also plays percussion instruments, having played in Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra throughout high school and college.

In 1985, she graduated from Martin Luther College, a nationally accredited college in MN, with a degree in Elementary Education, with an emphasis in music. Since that time, Mrs. Rockhoff has had a full-time career teaching at the classroom level, ages preschool through eighth grade; teaching piano; and serving in the music ministries of churches in MN, WI, KS, FL, and NC. She has furthered her study of teaching music to children with several post-graduate classes and seminars.

Mrs. Rockhoff strives to bring out the musical best in her students, and to foster a deep, life-long love of music that will serve them well in a variety of ways.

John Herrmann - Piano Instructor - Cary, NC

John Herrmann teaches piano full time at the Cary School of Music in Cary, NC. He has been teaching there since 2005 He teaches 40 students all ages; all levels, some of whom have gone on to careers in music. In addition, he is organist and Director of Music for St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh. Mr. Herrmann has been active as organist and church musician for over 50 years . His career has brought him from the New York City /Westchester Co., NY, Greenwich, CT area to CA, FL, NJ and NC. On a choir tour to Italy in 2006 in which he served as organ accompanist, Mr. Herrmann played for the Saturday evening service at the Vatican. He has also served as the sub-dean of the Central NC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists for several years.

Mr. Herrmann began his training with Maria Antos who was professor of piano at New Rochelle College in NY. Of interest: Mrs. Antos, who came from Hungary, was taught by a student of Franz Liszt, who was a student of Carl Czerny who was a student of Beethoven!! Beethoven studied with Haydn, so Mr. Herrmann and all of his many students from over the years are musically descended from Haydn and Beethoven! He enjoys telling his students of their musical great, great, great, grandfathers!! Last summer he traveled to Eisenstadt, Austria to see first- hand the homes of Haydn and Liszt, the Esterhazy Palace where Haydn’s “Creation” was first performed, listened to masterclasses on Mozart, Beethoven. Haydn and classical-style music, as well as play the organ at Bergkirche; Haydn’s church (and the same organ!)

Following high school graduation, Mr. Herrmann attended the Mannes College of Music in NYC and then transferred to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY where his BM and MM were earned in Organ Performance and Literature and piano .Several post-graduate classes, masterclasses and seminars add to his education and continuing education.

Medy Toumadjanov, Piano

B.A. in Piano Tbilisi Music College

B.M. in Piano Tbilisi State Consevatory

Medea Kiknadze-Toumadjanov has been teaching piano at Cary School of Music since 1998. Her career brought her to the US from Tbilisi, Rep. of Georgia (former Soviet Union).

Mrs. Toumadjanov’s professional education comprises 21 years of intensive music instruction under the tutelage of some of the internationally acclaimed professionals in the former Soviet Union.

Mrs. Toumadjanov received her B.A. from Tbilisi State Music College and M.A. from Tbilisi State Conservatory.

During this time, she was actively involved as a performer and piano teacher, as well as participating in local and national competitions.

Mrs. Toumadjanov relocated to the United States in 1992.

In May 1993 she had performed as a soloist under the auspices of the Fletcher Foundation for the Fine Arts.

From ay 1999-1998 she worked as an accompanist with the music department of Meredith College. In this capacity she performed at various concerts in other states.

One of the highlights of this collaboration with the department was a featured performance at The White House Christmas Party in Washington, D.C.

Since 1998 Mrs. Toumadjanov has been teaching piano at Cary School of Music. Her students have successfully participated in numerous piano contests and competitions.

Mrs. Toumadjanov is a member of N.T.M.A., N.C.M.T.A., R.P.T.A., C.A.P.T.A., and R.M.C.

Nathanael "Natty" Traywick is a multi-instrumentalist and composer/arranger with nearly a decade of experience playing and performing music in the Cary, NC area. Natty is a Cary School of Music alumnus with many years of training in music theory, jazz guitar, piano, bass guitar and more. He enjoys teaching students of all ages and levels. Natty is excited to join the CSM faculty as he furthers his music education in areas such as drums and recording.

Vitor Roveri has joined the faculty of Cary School of Music as a voice and piano teacher. He is currently a member of the Choral Society of Durham and is serving as choral director of church music in the Raleigh area. Vitor is a graduate of Campinas State University in Brazil (UNICAMP) where he received the Bachelor of Music degree in classical voice (bass). His opera experience at UNICAMP included “La Traviata” (choir), “Gianni Schicchi” (Pinellino), and Die Fledermaus (Frosch). He sang Charpentier’s “Te Deum” and the world premiere of the works “Prece de Abigail”, the opera “Estevao” by Tadeu Taffarello and “ Le Vide” by Danilo Rossetti. Vitor was a member of the Contemporary Choir of Campinas which specialized in performing sacred and secular a cappella music of the twentieth century and which was awarded 2nd place in the “San Juan Canta” Choir Contest in Argentina in the Universal and Classical Music category. In 2019, the group recorded an album with choral pieces from Carlos Alberto Pinto Fonseca, including the

“Afro-Brazilian Mass”.

Vitor’s extensive experience as a singer in numerous and diverse choral groups includes popular Brazilian music (samba, bossa nova), pop, rock, and African music. He has performed most of the symphonic repertoire including Beethoven’s “9th Symphony”, Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, Saint-Saens’ “Oratorio de Noel”, Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”, “Requiem”, and “ Mass in C Minor”, Bach’s “Magnificat in D Major” and ”Cantata BWV 4”, excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah”, Haydn’s “The Creation” and “Nelson Mass”, Brahms’ “A German Requiem”, Bruckner’s ”Te Deum”, and Faure’s “Requiem”.

Tracy Heist graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a Bachelor of Music degree. She was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon and was involved in Children’s Music Theater where she was director of the summer camp. Tracy was an active volunteer in the Harnett County School System, providing private piano lessons, general music instruction, and art classes to underprivileged children. She joined the CSM piano faculty in 2002 and has been teaching students from 3 – 90 years old throughout the years. Her lessons include music theory, technique, ear training, and preparation for recitals and other competitions and performance opportunities. Tracy enjoys sharing her talents with her students and her growing family, loves playing piano as a musical outlet in her own life, and endeavors to convey the love of music to all her students.

Matt Peterson - Cary, NC - Cary School of Music

Matt Peterson is a world touring multi-instrumentalist, composer, music director and private teacher. Originally from Superior, WI, Matt grew up in a musical family with several Berklee College of Music Alum uncles and aunts. He discovered his love of music at age 10 after first hearing Jimi Hendrix and obsessively taught himself blues-rock guitar in a matter of months. Through his early teens he studied jazz guitar at the John S. Duss Memorial Music Conversatory under the instruction of Tom O'Hara. In high school he became enamored with the piano and later studied composition and counterpoint with award winning composer Tyler Kaiser at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, as well as joining the University Big Band and Jazz combos on piano under the direction of Professor Greg Kehl Moore.

After many years of performing in diverse bands/ensembles/churches and privately teaching in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, Matt moved to Durham, NC in 2011 to pursue an abundance of music opportunities on the East Coast. He quickly established himself as a trusted live and recording instrumentalist for artists such as Molly Sarle, FREEMAN (Gene Ween of WEEN), Grandma Sparrow, and Paperhand Puppet Show among others.

Matt has spent the last 3 years touring full-time as guitarist/keyboardist/music director for the artists Hurray for the Riff Raff (Nonesuch Records) and Anjimile (4AD), which brought fulfilling opportunities to play for many thousands internationally in venues and festivals such as Newport Folk Fest, Bonnaroo, Prima Vera Sound, Pitchfork, and NOLA Jazz Fest among others. He’s also had the privilege of playing with the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band on several occasions and made a musical appearance on Late Night With Stephen Colbert in 2022.

Matt enjoys teaching students from all walks of life and skill levels, always preferring to meet students "where they're at." On both guitar and piano, his stylistic and technical experience spans rock, classical, folk, jazz, gospel, experimental new music and everything in between. His primary goal as an instructor is to get to the heart of which songs, artists, styles, and techniques will best keep students engaged, inspired, focused and excited for every lesson.