music together®

Abigail Arhart is a recent graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) where she earned her Master of Arts degree in Vocal Performance. She is from Fort Pierre, South Dakota, and holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern State University (NSU). Throughout her time at IUP and NSU, she has had diverse experiences including performing at the Luke A. Housner Summer Opera Workshop, taking on leading roles in IUP opera productions, and serving as a concert soloist at both IUP and NSU. These experiences have contributed to Abby’s growth as a musician, performer, and educator. Additionally, as a Graduate Assistant at IUP, she assisted in teaching undergraduates in Vocal Pedagogy, covering topics such as vocal faults and auditioning for opera, and aided vocal diction lessons.

Previously Abby served as a Teaching Artist for two years at the IUP Community Music School. It was here she gained valuable experience in reaching not only beginners but also students of all levels in their lessons. She understands the importance of building a strong foundation and creating a supportive environment for individuals who are just starting their musical journey. Her approach is to tailor lessons to each student’s unique needs and abilities, ensuring that they feel encouraged and empowered as they develop their vocal skills. Abby is passionate about helping students discover the joy of singing and guiding them toward reaching their full potential.

Outside of music, Abby is an avid baker, reader, and pop culture enthusiast. When she isn’t baking or reading her cat Hildegard keeps her on her toes. She is looking forward to teaching at Monroeville Music as well as meeting and getting to know her new students and parents!

A Michigan native, Avery is a 2020 graduate of Haslett High School located in Haslett, Michigan which is about seven minutes east of Michigan State University. Avery’s music career began when she took up piano lessons age eight. Within six weeks of her first lesson, Avery attended her first competition and received the highest mark in her division. By age 14, Avery had not only attended and been in the 2nd to highest choir at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake MI, but had also participated in The Michigan State University Children’s Choir (MSUCC.) In 2019, Avery was nominated for Michigan Youth Arts Festival (MYAF) effectively putting her in the Top 25 High School Solo Vocalists in the state of Michigan.

Avery attended Siena Heights University in Adrian Michigan on a full ride music scholarship for all four years of her undergraduate degree. She participated in almost every single ensemble throughout her time at Siena and most notably was the first black woman to be nominated and selected as drum major for the Siena Heights University Saint’s Marching Band. In addition, Avery held the position of Choir President for two years as well as soprano section leader in University Chorale and Chamber Singers. Avery studied voice under the names of Dr. Kelly Ford of Siena Heights University, and Columbus soprano Chelsea Hart-Melcher. Through Siena Heights University’s music program, Avery was not only able to sing at multiple large venues and events in Michigan, but also in Chicago most notably during Tridentine Mass at St. John Cantius.

Outside of music, Avery is an avid equestrian and animal lover. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, and competing with her horse at competitions along the east coast and Midwest. Avery is extremely excited to start her professional career here in Pittsburgh and is looking forward to meeting and teaching all of her new voice and piano students.

Cam McKeehan is a multi-instrumental Music Instructor focusing on Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Piano with students of all ages, and has a passion for helping his students find their own, unique musical path.

Cam’s interest in music was fostered by his parents from a young age. His dad had taken music theory classes in college, and later played bass in rock bands. Cam was introduced to piano lessons very early on, too. By the time he was in 1st grade, he and his mom had formed a ritual of shopping for new CDs to listen to in the car, when running errands. He remembers having a lot of fun being asked “what instruments do you hear playing right now”, or “do you notice how the guitar stops playing for an interesting effect during that part of the song?”

Cam gained a great deal from music classes in school. He took music theory courses the first day he could sign up for them, and enjoyed joining the marching band. Like many teenage musicians, he began to gravitate away from classical music for awhile, but ultimately came back to it after discovering its many applications for music of all types, from electronic music to film scores.

In 2003 Cam’s focus settled on electric guitar, piano and drums. He remembers the precise moment he played his guitar through a distortion pedal for the first time, and his eyes opened wide automatically. He started a band within a few months, and spent the better part of the following 20 years immersed in the DIY music world. He came across invaluable information collaborating with music friends he made, comparing notes with others on anything from music history, to composition, to audio engineering and practical guitar tricks.

Today, when teaching, Cam wants to communicate the joy which having a creative practice has brought to his life. Music has benefitted him in countless ways, forming the basis for a lot of deep, lifelong friendships, making fascinating subject matter for conversations with new people, and nurturing confidence in problem-solving, to name a few. He hopes to share with his students the same perspective he’s gained through music.

Deborah holds a Master’s Degree in Music, majoring in Voice and Choral Conducting and minoring in Piano. She is an experienced educator (college, K-8), performer (opera, musical theatre, straight theatre), and choral conductor (school, church, community). Deborah has taught private voice and piano to students of all ages, pre-school through adult, and believes excellent vocal habits can be instilled in even the very young with appropriate training. Prior to relocating to Pittsburgh and joining the Mendelssohn Choir, Deborah served as teacher and children’s choral director for the Community Music Programs at West Virginia University and Marshall University.

Gordon Nunn has spent his life learning, performing, and teaching percussion traditions from all over the world. Beginning with the drum set and later studying concert percussion in college, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Western Carolina University as well as a master’s degree in percussion performance from East Carolina University. He was also doctoral candidate in percussion at West Virginia University. And he has traveled to West Africa and Cuba to study African and Afro-Cuban drumming.

Gordon is active in the Pittsburgh area, where he maintains a private teaching studio, performs in local and regional bands, and he serves as a dance accompanist at Point Park University.

Greg Zawacki is a trumpet player and educator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His extensive performance experience includes Swing Machine swing band as 1st trumpet section lead, Around the Sound Brass Quintet as 1st trumpet and quintet lead, Around the Sound Community Band as 1st trumpet section lead, West Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and currently East Winds Symphonic Band. Greg has also been involved with the South Hills Junior Orchestra for almost 30 years as assistant director, brass coach, and brass ensemble founder and director. He is certified in Suzuki method teaching and taught at Music Center of the Northwest for 8 years. Greg also volunteers as part of Unisound as a brass coach and creating instrument petting zoos.

Prior to moving to Pittsburgh in 2022, Howard was a highly sought after performer and music educator for 25+ years throughout the SF Bay Area. Howard taught privately at music studios in South San Francisco and San Jose, and provided woodwind instruction at several elementary, middle, and high schools in the Bay Area. He received a BM in music performance from CSU-Los Angeles.

Howard has performed with Patti Austin, Louis Bellson, California Pops Orch, Pete Escovedo, Jon Faddis, Clare Fisher, Four Tops, Josh Grobin, Roger Kellaway, Gladys Knight, Patti Lupone, Johnny Mathis, O’Jays, Pacific Mambo Orch, Linda Ronstadt, Santa Cruz Symphony, Bobby Short, Temptations, and many others. Howard has written numerous works for jazz orchestra that have been performed at jazz festivals of Montreux, Vienne, Umbria, Kyoto, San Jose, Monterey, and the Hollywood Bowl.

Johann Diaz is a Venezuelan Violist and Violinist and recently obtained his Masters degree at Duquesne University. He started and developed most of his musical experience in “El Sistema”, gaining extensive experience in orchestral performances, teaching, and chamber music. These skills have been shared as a teacher nationally and internationally, with participations in various international festivals and seminars, including the International Musical Festival Campos do Jordao. Johann has also given classes and been invited to play in orchestras from Ecuador, Peru, Chile and has toured with the Francisco de Miranda orchestra and the Caracas Municipal Symphony Orchestra and a global non-government organization headquartered in Japan established for the purpose of raising awareness and building connections internationally among groups that work for peace, human rights, environmental protection, and sustainable development. His experience in the United States in orchestras includes Altoona Symphony Orchestra, Butler County Symphony, Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and more.

*Johann is only scheduling online lessons currently.

Dr. Larry Dine is an active tuba performer in the region. As a teacher, he teaches all brass instruments, and has held teaching positions with Sewickley Academy, the West Mifflin High School Marching Band, and Fairmont State University. He is a regular member of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and performs with the Wheeling Symphony, River City Brass, West Virginia Symphony, and Westmoreland Symphony. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Duquesne University, West Virginia University, and Capital University.

*Larry is only scheduling online lessons currently.

Mark Marston received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from Duquesne University, where he studied classical guitar with Thomas Kikta and Aaron Shearer. He has performed in master classes for such artists as Manuel Barrueco, Ricardo Cobo, Antigoni Goni, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Robert Guthrie, Adam Holzman and David Russell. Mark has served on the board of directors for guitar societies in Chicago and Pittsburgh and was formerly the director of the Suzuki guitar program at Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Locally, he has taught for the Center for Young Musicians for the past 20 years.

His articles on the Suzuki method have been published in Chicago Guitar and The American Suzuki Journal, and he was part of the notation team that prepared the music for books 5-9 in the Suzuki Guitar School™. He performs as a soloist, in chamber music groups, and has played in the orchestra pit for several Pittsburgh Opera productions. He has taught for Suzuki Institutes across the US, including as part of the faculty for the first International Suzuki Guitar Festival in Santa Clara, CA in 2008.

Megan Woods Held is a mezzo soprano and choral and general music teacher from Plum Borough, Pennsylvania. She holds a Master’s of Music Education from the University of Akron where she also completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music. While at the University of Akron, Megan was involved in the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, and University Singers as well as the semi-professional choir of Northeast Ohio Singers Company. After teaching high school choir in Canton, Ohio, she relocated to the Washington DC Metro area and taught several years of elementary general music and choirs with Fairfax County Public Schools as well as teaching music for the Ivymount School in Rockville, Maryland specializing in their Autism, Model Asperger’s, and Multiple Learning Needs Programs. Megan was a board member and alto section leader of the community choir Six Degree Singers out of Silver Spring, Maryland and continues to arrange choral pieces for the group. Megan returned to Pittsburgh in 2016 and settled back in her hometown of Plum with her husband and children. Since returning to the area, she has been singing with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh as well as teaching private voice and piano and served as a long-term substitute teacher at the Westinghouse Arts Academy Charter School. Megan is excited to continue teaching private lessons and bringing Music Together classes to Monroeville Music!

Michael Ondrick has been playing music for 85.333% of his life (he did the math) and professionally for over a decade. Hailing from Belmont, Ohio, but now residing in Wilkinsburg, he specializes in church music ministry and currently serves as Director of Praise Worship Ministries at Monroeville United Methodist Church, right up the road. He also has extensive experience in other performative arts, including dramaturgy, comedic improvisation, musical improvisation, and sketch comedy, having taught in all of those fields. He is excited to continue his artistic and pedagogical journey at Monroeville Music!

Morgan Stouffer is a 2012 graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania where he obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Therapy. While at Seton Hill, he sang the role of Monostatos in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” and has performed extensively with the Seton Hill University Choir, the Seton Hill University Chamber Singers, and the Westmoreland Choral Society. As an accomplished pianist and organist, Morgan serves as director of music at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and Madison United Methodist Church, both near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Throughout his career as a church musician, he has worked extensively with various church choirs. He has conducted several choral groups and has also served as adjunct choir member of the Westmoreland County All-Star Choir. From September 2013-September 2014, Morgan was the choral scholar at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick, Ireland where he was the tenor section leader. During his time at St. Mary’s, Morgan sang in Faure’s “Requiem,” and Stainer’s “Crucifixion.” Morgan most recently completed his Master of Arts degree in Ritual Chant and Song at the University of Limerick, Ireland. While there, he sang in Lucernarium: the official ensemble of the MA in Ritual Chant & Song and Sonas: the University of Limerick Global Choir.

Yu-Chen was born in Taiwan. He started to play the cello when he was seven years old. His first teacher was Zong-Hui Chen at Hou De Primary School. After he graduated, he continued to New Taipei Municipal Chong Qing Junior High School to study cello with Ya-Ru Lian until starting at Taipei Municipal Fuxing Senior High School. 

In 2014, he immigrated to the United States and started at Gateway High School. During this period, he studied with Mr. Mikhail Istomin and Mr. Adam Liu (Assistant Principal Cello) from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Yu-Chen completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance at Duquesne University.

Yu-Chen is a member of the Believe String Quartet and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. He has performed with the Akron Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Washington Symphony, and Johnstown Symphony Orchestras. Currently, he is working at the Duquesne University Mary Pappert School of Music as a librarian and ensembles assistant.