Faculty & Staff

Meet Our Celebrated Faculty & Staff

Merit School of Music’s expert teaching artists and staff create a deep, inspiring, and motivating learning experience for music-lovers from across Chicagoland.

Get to know the faces of Merit who are dedicated to ensuring music students of all backgrounds, ages, and experience levels are able to reach their full musical and personal potential.

Faculty
Staff

Department Chairs | Brass | Early Childhood | Ensembles | Guitar | Jazz | Percussion | Piano | Strings | Theory & Composition | Voice & Choir | Woodwind

President's Office | Programs | Student Services | Development & Marketing | Finance & Administration | Operations | Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI)

Department Chairs

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Claire Bachman Department Co-Chair: Strings; Faculty: Cello

Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya Department Chair: Piano; Faculty: Piano

Michael Nearpass Department Chair: Theory & Composition; Faculty: Theory

Bob Sherman Department Chair: Guitar; Ensemble Director: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Charles “Chip” Staley Department Chair: Instrumental Large Ensembles; Ensemble Director: Wind Symphony

Iris Wei Department Co-Chair: Strings; Faculty: Violin

Brass

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David Allie Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Ryan Berndt Faculty: Trumpet

Akshat Jain Faculty: Tuba & Euphonium

Timothy Riordan Faculty: Trombone

Emma Sepmeier Faculty: Horn

Early Childhood

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Francy Acosta Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Sally Blandón Early Childhood and General Music Program Director

Frances Kennedy Early Childhood & General Music Program Manager

Miro Hernandez Faculty: Early Childhood

Annaeka Johnson Faculty: Early Childhood Music

Ryan Mayer Faculty: Early Childhood Music & General Music

Ben Weber Faculty: Violin/Viola, Early Childhood

Ensembles

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Francy Acosta Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

David Allie Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Alexander Beltran Ensemble Director: Jazz Ensembles & Combos; Faculty: Jazz

Justin Berchtold Faculty: Band, Merit Music in Communities

Bonnie-Heather Campbell Ensemble Director: Clarinet Ensemble; Faculty: Clarinet; Conservatory: Clarinet Technique Class

Carling FitzSimmons Director of Choirs: Merit Conservatory

Steven Gooden Merit Philharmonic Director, Conservatory Symphonic Band Director, Merit Music in Communities Band Director, Clarinet Faculty

Kristin Hedlund Ensemble Director: Cherub Orchestra, Merit Music in Communities; Violin Private Lessons Instructor

Jennifer Huang Music Director, Chamber Orchestra

Janet Janz Ensemble Director: Stradivarius Strings; Faculty: Cello

Maggie Johnston Ensemble Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Timothy Riordan Faculty: Trombone

Bob Sherman Department Chair: Guitar; Ensemble Director: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Christian Smith Ensemble Director: Encore Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Charles “Chip” Staley Department Chair: Instrumental Large Ensembles; Ensemble Director: Wind Symphony

Arturs Weible Orchestra Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Viola

Hope Wittmus Ensemble Director IVM Choirs; Faculty: Voice

Guitar

Bob Sherman Department Chair: Guitar; Ensemble Director: Guitar; Faculty: Guitar

Jazz

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David Allie Ensemble Director: Concert Band, Merit Music in Communities, Faculty: Trumpet

Alexander Beltran Ensemble Director: Jazz Ensembles & Combos; Faculty: Jazz

Aaron McEvers Faculty: Music Theory, Jazz, Saxophone and Combos

Fred Simon Faculty: Jazz Theory and Improvisation, Piano

Percussion

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Brandon Podjasek Faculty: Percussion

Rebecca McDaniel Faculty: Percussion

Avo Randruut Faculty: World Percussion

John Ringor Faculty: Percussion

Joe Sonnefeldt Faculty: Percussion

Piano

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Dr. Elena Doubovitskaya Department Chair: Piano; Faculty: Piano

Dr. Aaron Albin Faculty: Piano & Voice

Dr. Seungwha Baek Faculty: Piano

Maya Galperin Faculty: Piano

Mio Isoda-Hagle Faculty: Piano

Mijin Kim Faculty: Piano

Anna Kovalevska Faculty: Piano

Weiwen Ma Faculty: Piano

Alessandra Odazaki-Rodriguez Faculty: Piano

Hoa Pham Faculty: Piano

Tina Qi Faculty: Piano

Toshiko Suzuki Faculty: Piano

Ligia Takei Faculty: Piano

Pedro Uceda Faculty: Piano

Ethan Valentin Faculty: Piano

Dr. Ann Yi Faculty: Piano

Strings

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Claire Bachman Department Co-Chair: Strings; Faculty: Cello

Iris Wei Department Co-Chair: Strings; Faculty: Violin

Scott Bakshis Faculty: Bass

Brian Beach Program Director: Strings & Orchestra

Benjamin Bauer Faculty: Cello

Hillary Bayley Faculty: Violin & Viola

Lizbeth Bistrow Faculty: Violin and Theory

Erica Carpenedo Faculty: Violin

Brenna Crowgey Faculty: Violin

Rebekah Dotzel Faculty: Cello

Wilfred Farquharson Faculty: Viola

Christine Fliginger Faculty: Violin and Viola

Matt Gold Faculty: Theory, Bass

Daniel Golden Faculty: Violin and Viola

Kristin Hedlund Ensemble Director: Cherub Orchestra, Merit Music in Communities; Violin Private Lessons Instructor

Janet Janz Ensemble Director: Stradivarius Strings; Faculty: Cello

Daniel Klingler Faculty: Cello

Mónica Lugo Head of Alegre Strings; Faculty: Violin

Samantha Peng Faculty: Violin & Viola

Sophie Petroski Faculty: Violin

Amali Premawardhana Faculty: Cello

Molly Rife Faculty: Cello

Desirée Ruhstrat Faculty: Chamber Music

Patrick Rustandi Faculty: Violin and Viola

Julie Schreiner Faculty: Violin & Viola

Hope Shepherd Faculty: Cello

Christian Smith Ensemble Director: Encore Orchestra; Faculty: Violin & Viola

Nathan Sonnenfeld Faculty: Violin and Viola

Ben Weber Faculty: Violin/Viola, Early Childhood

Arturs Weible Orchestra Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Viola

John Xia Faculty: Violin

Henry Zheng Faculty: Strings

Theory & Composition

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Michael Nearpass Department Chair: Theory & Composition; Faculty: Theory

Matt Gold Faculty: Theory, Bass

Carl Kennedy Faculty: Theory

Aaron McEvers Faculty: Music Theory, Jazz, Saxophone and Combos

Shirley Mosteller Faculty: Voice and Theory

Voice & Choir

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Francy Acosta Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Dr. Aaron Albin Faculty: Piano & Voice

Carling FitzSimmons Director of Choirs: Merit Conservatory

Kaitlin Foley Faculty: Voice

Terry Henderson Contemporary Voice Instructor

Maggie Johnston Ensemble Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Jade J. Maze Faculty: Voice

Shirley Mosteller Faculty: Voice and Theory

Douglas Orofino Choir Director: Merit Music in Communities; Faculty: Voice

Hope Bogusch Ensemble Director IVM Choirs; Faculty: Voice

Woodwind

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Steven Gooden Merit Philharmonic Director, Conservatory Symphonic Band Director, Merit Music in Communities Band Director, Clarinet Faculty

Bonnie-Heather Campbell Ensemble Director: Clarinet Ensemble; Faculty: Clarinet; Conservatory: Clarinet Technique Class

Alexander Beltran Ensemble Director: Jazz Ensembles & Combos; Faculty: Jazz

Susan Crandall Faculty: Flute

Christine Janzow Phillips Faculty: Oboe

Galina Kiep Bassoon Teacher

Betsy Ko Faculty: Flute

Anna Najoom Faculty: Clarinet

Michael Thompson Faculty: Clarinet

Claire Werling Faculty: Clarinet

President's Office

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Charles Grode President & Executive Director

Khelsey Zarraga Executive & Board Relations Assistant

Programs

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Kurtis Gildow Dean & Vice President for Educational Affairs

Brian Beach Program Director: Strings & Orchestra

Amy Bischoff Director of Program Operations

Sally Blandón Early Childhood and General Music Program Director

Jeremiah Price Band & Jazz Program Director

Pamela Shortall Voice, Guitar, & the Marlene M. Bowen Piano Program Director

Sarah Forbes Piano, Voice, & Guitar Program Manager

Daniel Gayden Band & Jazz Program Manager

Nicole Hernandez String Program Manager

Todd Humphrey Music & Instrument Librarian

Frances Kennedy Early Childhood & General Music Program Manager

Autumn Selover Program Coordinator

Student Services

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Adrienne Thompson Vice President for Enrollment & Student Services

Talar Khosdeghian Director of Student Services

Glinerys Peralta-Trinidad Associate Director of Student Services

Karen Lopez Private Lesson Manager

Jeremy Carter Student Services Associate

Callise Johnson Student Services Associate

Development & Marketing

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Meredith Barber Vice President for Development & Marketing

Mark Richard Director of Institutional Giving

Amy Riske Director of Development Operations

Laura Stillman Director of Marketing & Communications

Erin Darge Marketing Specialist

Sam Doran Marketing Manager

Maggie Lin Donor Database Manager

Finance & Administration

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Amy Johnson Vice President for Finance & Administration

Andrew Bedessem Director of Finance

Andrew Levine Director of Human Resources

Operations

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Rogelio "Roger" Esparza Operations Manager

Yesenia Avila Front Desk Coordinator

Cairo Benitez Facilities Coordinator

Christopher Barrera Operations Staff Member

Mayra Barrera Operations Staff Member

Alberto DeJesus Operations Staff Member

Carolyn Esparza Operations Staff Member

Raul Esparza Operations Staff Member

Alejandro Luna Operations Staff Member

Marycarmen Luna Operations Staff Member

Claudia Mendoza Operations Staff Member

Ramon Mendoza Operations Staff Member

Dayanis Rivera Operations Staff Member

Bobbie Robinson Operations Staff Member

Claudia Rodriguez Operations Staff Member

Rafael Campos Operations Staff Member

Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI)

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James Hall CMPI Project Director

Jade Garcia CMPI Community Manager

Sarah Vander-Ploeg CMPI Project Manager

Becca Dora CMPI Student Navigator

Joy Faith Knapp Music Center
38 S Peoria St, Chicago, IL 60607
312-786-9428

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