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Teachers
Claudia Birdsall
Suzuki and Traditional Violin
Claudia moved to Sarasota from Colorado where she owned and operated her own teaching studio for over 20 years and coached for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from the University of Denver and has extensive training in Suzuki violin. Claudia was a member of the Colorado Springs Symphony and the assistant concertmaster of the Venice Symphony. She has soloed with the Pueblo Symphony and the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra. She loves working with Suzuki or traditional students at all levels.
Robert Birdsall
Suzuki and Traditional Violin
Suzuki Guitar
Robert Birdsall is originally from Michigan and started piano lessons at age 5. He then transferred to violin at age 8. He has a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Eastern Michigan University, where he also was introduced to the Suzuki Method of violin instruction.
He left Michigan to join the Colorado Springs Symphony and later continued his Suzuki training in Colorado. He has worked with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association, a public middle school in Colorado Springs, a cooperative Suzuki group teaching situation, and has maintained a private studio. He enjoys teaching students from both traditional and Suzuki backgrounds.
Mary Healey
Piano, Royal Conservatory Program
Mary Healey has spent her entire life in music, having been born into a musical family. Her formal studies began at age seven with piano, and gradually expanded to include clarinet, trumpet and organ.
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Mary obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Rivier University and two additional Masters Degrees in Music Pedagogy and Education. Continued Piano studies were at Boston University with Prof.Leon Tumarkin. Organ studies were at New England Conservatory. Her performances include the Harvard Summer Band, The Middlesex Orchestra, and the B.U Alumni Concert Band. Additional positions include Choir/Organist at St. Annes’ in Peabody, Sacred Heart in Lynn, and Robert Bellarmine in Andover, all in MA.
Throughout her years as Music Director, K-12, Mary initiated studies for herself and staff to include the 5 major Music Methods: Suzuki, Kodaly, Orff, Dalcroze and Alexander Techniques. The music curriculum that resulted reaped significant results with the children in the K-12 grades. As a result Mary was invited to serve the Massachusetts State Board of Accreditation for K-12 music programs.
Medsyre (Sye) Rochanavibhata
Piano, Guitar, Music FunTime
Medsyre Rochanavibhata (Sye) is originally from Bangkok, Thailand. She started her piano lessons at Yamaha Music School in Thailand at age 4, and earned several certificates and awards from Yamaha Music, as well as Trinity College London in Thailand for piano and classical guitar. She later moved to the United States to continue her studies in Music in 2010, and was a collegiate member of the Music Teachers National Association from 2013-2017. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from the University of North Florida and for the past several years has been teaching piano to students of all ages and skill levels, internationally.
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Katie Priest
Voice, Piano
Katie is a multitalented performing artist with training in musical theater, opera, acting, dance and piano. She has over 15 years of piano training including at the college level and over 10 years of experience as a singer in styles ranging from musical theater to classical, pop & jazz. Katie holds a Bachelor's in Music Degree (vocal concentration) from the Florida State University and has performed in leading roles in numerous musical, stage and film productions. Honors include 1st Place in the Musical Theatre division of regional “National Association of Teachers of Singing” (NATS) Competition; being chosen as a classical soloist to represent SCF at Winter Symposium Competition, and the Montserrat Campos Fong Endowed Scholarship in Voice. Katie is an experienced voice and piano teacher for students of all ages and skill levels, complemented by her work as a musical director for productions of stage musicals.
Carolyn Suda
Suzuki Cello, Piano
Carolyn Suda is a deeply-experienced Suzuki cello specialist performer and piano teacher. She has performed with orchestras around the country and also taught all ages and levels of students in her private studio and at Monmouth College and Knox College in Illinois. Carolyn teaches Suzuki method cello to students of all ages and skill levels, from children as young as four years old to older adults. Her students have the opportunity to join our Suzuki cello ensemble, performing with violinists and violists in our string concerts.
Jessica Campbell
Viola, Violin, Music FunTime
From the first moment Jessica picked up the viola at the age of five, she knew it was the instrument for her. She started playing at the Florida West Coast Symphony when she was seven years old. As an adult, she was a member of the State College of Florida’s Orchestra and currently plays with the Sarasota Bradenton Pops Orchestra.
Jessica loves working with children and has been teaching children ages one and older for the last thirteen years. She finds the looks on their faces when they learn something new to be simply priceless. She also has a background singing in chorus and stage acting and is the mother of three wonderful children, one of whom plays the violin and the other two play the piano.
Annie Addington
Voice, Piano, General Music
Annie has spent her entire professional life in music, as a composer, songwriter, singer and educator. She wrote her first song at age 11, then went on to study musical theater and perform in musicals in New York. Later, she moved to Europe, living in Holland and Germany and touring with her own band, frequently performing her own songs.
She finished her BA in Music and did Graduate School at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, receiving a Master's in Jazz Performance (with Jon Faddis) and a Master's in Composition (with Joel Thome). During that time, she taught Music and Drama at Oakwood Friends School, where her son also attended.
Annie loves working with kids, having taught music in the New York City School System. There, she taught Chorus, String Ensemble, and worked with Fellows from Carnegie Hall for 4 years to create a strings program for the violin, viola and cello, with three performances per year, both Choral and Instrumental. She is teaching voice, piano, introductory guitar and general music to our students.
Monique Garza O'Neill
Suzuki Violin
Monique has taught Suzuki and traditional violin to students ages 3 through adult since 2001. A 10-year Suzuki student herself, Mrs. Garza O’Neill received her Bachelor of Music cum laude in Violin Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She studied under Dr. Won-Bin Yim and Kurt Sassmannshaus. She has completed the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ violin teacher training in multiple books, as well as the Teacher Practicum. As a young violinist, Monique had the wonderful experience of
participating in a concert with Dr. Suzuki himself at the American Suzuki Institute.
While living in Cincinnati, she taught at the Musical Arts Center, performing with groups of her students at various MAC local outreach events as well as lead group string instruction for Cincinnati Public Schools.
Monique's performance experience includes the Aspen Music Festival Concert Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and the Lebanon Symphony Orchestra. She also enjoyed performing with various Cincinnati-area community theatre troupes. She most recently performed with the Queen City Chamber Orchestra, both as a soloist and in the ensemble.
Since moving to the Sarasota area in 2021, all five of her children have been enrolled at the Suzuki Institute School of Music for violin group class and Suzuki piano. She is thrilled to join the SISM violin faculty and looks forward to continuing her journey as a Suzuki teacher (including to three of her own children).
Jorge Garcell
Classical Guitar
Jorge Garcell is a Cuban concert artist, teacher, composer and writer. He began learning classical guitar at an early age and is a recipient of the prize for the best interpretation of Renaissance music in the National Guitar Competition, Havana. He earned a Bachelor of Music (Classical Guitar Performance) from the Advanced Institute of Havana.
Jorge was the Head of the Classical Guitar Department at the Conservatory of Havana as well as at the Culture and Art Institute in the Dominican Republic. He has offered concerts and master classes in many international festivals, all through his distinguished career. His students have gone on to attend advanced conservatories and entered professional careers in music in many countries around the world.
Rafael Silva
Saxophone, Clarinet, Piano, Trumpet, Guitar, Mandolin, Flute
Hailing from Santos, Brazil, Rafael Silva, otherwise known as "Ruffus," began his musical studies at eleven years of age and by the time he was fifteen, could play thirteen instruments such as: Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Piano, Bass, Guitar, Harmonica, Mandolin, Trumpet, and more. He studied at Souza Lima College in Sao Paulo City, playing and studying with a number of renowned Brazilian musicians.
In 2007, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. With two bachelor's and a master's degrees in music, he pursued a minor in the culinary arts and one in astronomy. While living in the northeastern USA, he performed with illustrious American jazz players at venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club, The Bitter End Club and the Jazz Standard in NYC.
Rafael has been teaching music for about 17 years, both individual and group lessons on a number of instruments, in conservatories and high school programs.
Catherine Mahler
Piano
Catherine has spent most of her life in music, with a specialization in piano performance, teaching and accompaniment. As a piano teacher she brings with her many decades of experience teaching all ages and skill levels, from New York to Florida. Her positions have included Director of Music at various churches for twenty years; Professional accompanist for instrumental and vocal adjudications and competitions
as well as the Manhattan School of Music graduation recital; choral accompanist at Tilles Center, Long Island, NY; the Huntington Men’s Chorus and the Port Charlotte Chorale. She holds advanced degrees in Piano and Vocal Performance from Ohio Wesleyan Univ., The Golandsky Institute in New York, and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria.
Morgan Cox
Voice, Piano
Morgan is a multi talented artist with a background that includes singing, teaching and directing for youth and adult students and ensembles. She was a director and vocal teacher at Winthrop College Preparatory Academy in Riverview, FL. She sang with the Flagler Chamber Choir in St. Augustine and Horn of Freedom Singers in Boone, NC and has been a featured soloist for the Port Charlotte Concert Band (as a 2nd Soprano/ Mezzo Soprano).
Morgan holds a bachelor's degree from Flagler College and is working towards her Master's degree in theater with an emphasis on musical theater, acting and design. With this rich experience in the performing arts, she is excited to inspire her students to find their voice through music and performance.
Ruth Weaver
Violin, Piano
Ruth Weaver has been playing the violin since she was 8 years old and the piano since she was 10. As a youth, she was selected to perform with Florida Allstate Orchestras, the Sarasota Youth Opera Orchestra, FWCS Youth Philharmonic, Pine View Chamber Symphony (as concert mistress and concerto soloist), Sewanee Symphony, New England Music Camp Orchestra, Sarasota's Just Kids Just Music, was a national member of the National Piano Playing Auditions, and received superior ratings from the National Federation of Music Clubs. She was privileged to study violin with Dr. William Hayden at USF and piano with Mrs. Warrene Johnson. Her musical talent has also been demonstrated in performances with the Tulsa Philharmonic, former Florida West Coast Symphony, Anna Marie Symphony, ORU Orchestra as concerto soloist, Venice Symphony, and former MCC Orchestra. Ruth has taught private and group lessons, both Suzuki and traditional, to all ages in various settings since 2000.
Matt Sabo
Piano
Growing up in a musical family in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a father who was a classical guitarist and mother who was a songwriter, Matt began exploring music at a young age, learning guitar, percussion, and piano. He has a background as a classical as well as a jazz musician, with experience teaching piano to students of all skill levels. At Columbia College, Chicago, he studied piano (classical) with Sebastian Huydts, and jazz piano with Peter Scheiner and Thomas Guenther, touring the Chicagoland area with the Columbia College Jazz Ensemble; performed in small groups at various jazz venues in Chicago including the Jazz Showcase and the Hot House; was a member of the Maurice Brown Octet and leader of the Matt Sabo Sextet. He was awarded a music scholarship to Michigan State University where he majored in psychology and music, and studied piano with Marie France Lefebvre and Erica Ohm, performing classical music in recitals as a soloist and accompanist. He was also a house pianist for the Bakersfield Jazz workshop which hosted numerous acclaimed artists. Matt often performs at various events and venues here in Southwest Florida.
Maria McIntyre
Piano
Maria Elisabeth is a classically trained pianist. Starting violin at age 7 and piano the following
year, music has played an integral role in her life. Having studied with Juilliard-trained teachers
from a young age, she is keenly aware of how important having the right teacher is for young
musicians. As a double major, Maria Elisabeth completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music and the
History and Politics of Developing Nations through the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and
Interdisciplinary Studies in New York. During her degree, she completed her music studies at
Hunter College and the Mannes College of Music, playing violin in the Hunter College
Symphony. Maria Elisabeth has also privately studied piano in New York, Budapest, and New
Orleans. She holds a Masters in Political Science from Tulane University, where she continued
her piano studies with Yuri Lisichenko.
Her exposure to Suzuki began when looking for music teachers for her own children. She
embraced the Suzuki philosophy of every child can, and spent many happy years as a Suzuki
parent during which time her children studied violin, harp, cello, piano, and classical guitar.
Maria Elisabeth undertook private Suzuki teacher-training under the tutelage of violinist Jan
Baczewski. Influenced by Suzuki, Kodaly, and Dalcroze Eurythmics, she has designed and
taught music and movement programs for young children. Most recently, she was the Prelude
Choir Director at Sarasota Young Voices under Geneviève Beauchamp. She finds joy in sharing
her love of the piano with her students, emphasizing technique and musicality.
Sam Stahlmann
Piano, Voice
Sam holds an Associate's degree in vocal performance and piano from the State College of Florida. He is also a freelance accompanist, singer, and instructor with eight years of teaching experience, seven years of stage directing and producing, and six years of music directing experience. He has performed in many operas and musicals. Some of his performance highlights are: The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Encore Performing Arts; Backup singer for Andrea Bocceli at Amalie Arena; and Something Rotten at Florida Studio Theaters.
Sam is a current senior at the University of Tampa where he studies classical voice, and is very excited to be a part of the Suzuki Institute!
“Your voice is not a thing to be afraid of.” -Edwina Spoonapple
Dr. Salil Singh
Director
Jennifer Singh
Director, Customer Relations & Early Childhood Programs
Dr. Singh brings his love of arts education to the Suzuki Institute. After spending an entire career as a theater director, actor, playwright, designer and teacher, he has been director of the Suzuki Institute since 2019. His drama productions range from opera, musicals, original works and puppet theater and have been seen around the US as well as in India and Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Jennifer Singh brings her deep experience in real estate and customer relations to her love of music education. She has spearheaded Music FunTime, our early childhood education program and continues to nurture programs that serve the entire community at Suzuki Institute.