Meagan Johnson is a second year graduate student at Westminster Choir College studying Voice Pedagogy. Meagan received her Bachelor of Music in Classical Voice Performance at WCSU. She has been teaching private voice and piano lessons since 2007 while assisting at numerous studios and schools with accompanying and vocal instruction. She has also worked as music director for high school and community productions such as High School Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Hello Dolly, and upcoming You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. In addition to teaching, Meagan has gained valuable performing experience in university opera productions and choral works on the prestigious stages of Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center and the Kimmel Center.
VOICE AND BEGINNING PIANO
Christopher Hodson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Vocal Music from Western Michigan University and is currently finishing a graduate degree in vocal performance/pedagogy at Westminster Choir College. His operatic roles include Pélléas in Debusssy's Pélléas et Mélisande. Chevalier de la Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites, Azael in Debussy’s L’enfant Prodigue, the title role in Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle, Frederick in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, and Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff. In addition to his opera experience Chris has also appeared as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Arvo Pärt’s Passio with the Michigan Bach Collegium; and Howells’ Requiem. Christopher has also taught private voice throughout his undergraduate career and is currently building a voice studio in Princeton. Christopher’s voice teachers have included Dr. David Little, Dr. Joe Miller, and Dr. Carl Ratner. He currently studies with Dr. Christopher Arneson.
PIANO all ages, and VOICE grades 4-8
Lyric soprano, Martina Cacciaroni has taught piano and voice in group and private settings in Honolulu, HI and Princeton, NJ. She recently completed her Masters of Music in Voice Pedagogy and Performance at Westminster Choir College where she studied with Dr. Scott McCoy, J.J.Penna and Rachelle Jonck. Martina graduated valedictorian of Antioch High School in Antioch, California and completed the Certificate of Merit program with the Music Teachers Association of California in Piano Performance with honors. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music with distinction from The University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she studied with Dr. Maya Hoover and Mr. Lawrence Paxton. Martina’s experience includes operatic repertoire, art song and musical theater.
FLUTE, GUITAR-4th grade and up
Jon Thompson is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose talents as a saxophonist, guitarist, and vocalist have contributed to the Philadelphia music scene for over ten years. He currently collaborates through writing, performance and / or studio work with Philadelphia and New York area artists including the Machine, Matt Davis’s Aerial Photograph, Oud Blues, Ellipsis, Chris Harford, Sinking Ship and Jason Fraticelli and the Dreams.
Thompson attended the University of the Arts, and graduated with a B.A. in Jazz Performance from Temple University. After moving to New York in 2000 and finding work as a sideman in jazz and klezmer bands, he moved to Lambertville, New Jersey, where he began writing songs that drew on country and folk influences. He formed the alt-country band Lazlo, which released two full-length albums (“Lazlo” and “Old Steel Company”) and opened for national acts such as Lyle Lovett.
Jon is a faculty member at the Lawrenceville School, the Princeton Montessori School and the Pennington School, where he teaches woodwinds and guitar.
BRASS/RECORDER ENSEMBLE
Bridget MacDonald is Chapin’s instrumental music instructor. She has a Doctorate from Rutgers University, a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT.
She is level I Orff certified which includes recorder training. As a trombonist she has toured the United States, Europe, and Asia as well as freelancing in CT, NJ, and the Boston and New York areas. She has performed under conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, and Julius Rudel (founder of the New York City Opera), and composers Luciano Berio and Gunther Schuller. Bridget has also taught at a number of music schools including the Longy School in Cambridge, MA.
CLARINET AND SAXOPHONE
Joe Pinto is an active freelance musician and teacher in the New York/New Jersey area. He received his Bachelor and Masters degree of Music with a concentration in clarinet performance from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. At Rutgers University he performed as principal clarinetist of the Rutgers University Symphony and Wind ensemble. Mr. Pinto was selected as the winner of the Rutgers University concerto competition. His teachers have included Dr. George Jones, Andrew Lamy, Dr. Maureen Hurd, and William Stokking. He has performed in numerous master classes with clarinetists including Charles Neidich, Aude Richard, and David Shifrin. Mr. Pinto has instructed students at music festivals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania including the Performing Arts Institute at Wyoming Seminary. In New York, he has performed in Carnegie Hall numerous times with professional symphonies. He currently maintains a large private clarinet studio where his students demonstrate a 95 percent success rate when auditioning for regional wind ensembles and orchestras. In his free time Mr. Pinto enjoys playing tennis, golf, and practicing his clarinet.
SUZUKI VIOLIN
Chicka Mimura started her violin lessons in the Suzuki violin program when she was 3 years old and studied directly under Dr. Shini-ichi Suzuki at the International Academy of the Suzuki Method in Matsumoto, Japan, where she received her diploma from the Talent Education Research Institute. She taught in the Suzuki Violin Program for 10 years in Japan, 1 year at The Institute for The Achievement of Human Potential in PA, and for 3 years at the Westminster Conservatory in Princeton, NJ.