Piano-r

Abby Charbeneau

Abigail Charbeneau

Abigail Charbeneau (piano) holds a B.A. in Music from Skidmore College and an M.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Illinois. She has studied with Pola Baytelman, William Heiles, Arkady Aronov, Adaleina Krivosheina, Kenneth Drake, and Reid Alexander. She is the organist at South Congregational Church and Artistic Director and pianist for the Grace Coolidge Musicale Series in Plymouth, Vt. Ms. Charbeneau has held faculty positions at Millikin University and the University of Illinois and currently teaches at St. Paul’s School.

Alex Tkaczevski

Alex Tkaczevski, DMA, (piano, composition) has been teaching piano for more than twelve years.  He is an active performer and organizer of recitals and composes music.  In his lively lessons he focuses on classical literature, good technique, theory, history, and includes other genres as the student progresses.  Earlier in his career, Dr. Tkaczevski created music and sounds for educational software and toys.  His earliest piano training was at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division.  While there he had a rare opportunity to appear in a major motion picture. You can see his hands and elbows playing his own composition in the original “Fame” motion picture. Tkaczevski received his Bachelor’s Degree from Hartt School of Music and earned his Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from

Andrew Grosvenor

Andrew Grosvenor is a piano player and songwriter with many years of experience playing professionally in a variety of styles. Andrew teaches beginner piano as well as intermediate to advanced jazz and rock piano, theory and improvisation. He also serves as keyboardist and bandleader of the regional band “Andrew North & the Rangers”

Anita Yu

Anita Yu (piano) earned a B.M. from the University of British Columbia and an M.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Her major teachers include Louise Goss, Phyllis Lehrer, Ena Barton, and Michael Lewin. Anita has performed in Boston, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Vancouver, B.C., and has been on the faculties at the Community Music Center of Boston, St. Paul’s School, and the New School for Music Study. She has a particular interest in preparing students for the Royal Conservatory Certificate Program and statewide, regional, and national piano competitions.

Calvin Herst

Calvin Herst (piano, accompanist) received his B.M. and M.M. degrees magna cum laude in Piano Performance from Ithaca College. He served as Director of Education and Community Partnerships at CCMS from 1997-2015, when he was honored to receive the Governor’s Arts Award in Arts Education in recognition of his accomplishments in that role. In frequent demand as a collaborative pianist throughout the region, including accompanying the NH All-State Festival Choir from 2015-2023, he has also performed at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and throughout the People’s Republic of China. Calvin has been the staff pianist for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Concord since 2013, and has been a faculty member at the Ithaca College School of Music, the Community Music Center of Boston,

Eric Klaxton

Eric Klaxton (saxophone, jazz piano, composition, audio production) earned his BA in Saxophone Performance at the University of New Hampshire in 2011 and completed his Masters Degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music from Longy School of Music in the spring of ‘22. Notably, he has studied saxophone with Noah Preminger and Bill McHenry, as well as composition with Ben Allison and Frank Carlberg. Eric is a founding member of The Soggy Po Boys and can be found playing woodwinds in Sojoy and OurBigBand. In addition to his work with collective ensembles, he writes and arranges original works for various groups of his own, imbued with traditions from jazz, rock, folk, and electronic music. Visit www.ericklaxton.com for a schedule of upcoming performances and more information about Eric’s music and teaching.

Kathryn Southworth

Kathryn Southworth (piano department co-chair, piano, performance workshops, Canterbury Singers) holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and an M.M. in Vocal Accompanying and Coaching from the University of Illinois. She held a graduate assistantship as staff accompanist under the tutelage of acclaimed accompanist John Wustman and served as a musical ambassador to Costa Rica with soprano Ollie Watts Davis. She has been a collaborative pianist for Opera North, Dartmouth College, Plymouth State University, and Boston Ballet, and has also served as music director, accompanist, and organist for many theater and choral groups in New England. Kathy is currently music director and organist for the Canterbury United Community Church. Former faculty positions include St. Paul’s School and Plymouth State University.

Katy Gibney

Katy Gibney (Sunflower Singers, Take Three, Keyboard Connection, Certified Music Practitioner) earned her B.S. in Nursing from Adelphi University and is a Certified Music Practitioner, using her voice and instruments to provide therapeutic music in health settings and private homes. She is the director of T’filah Band Jammers and Sunflower Singers and founded Community Without Walls (CWOW), a network for mindful living. She is on the NH State Council on the Arts “NH Arts in Health Roster,” and brings music and theater projects to schools and after school programs.

Rebecca Herst

Rebecca Herst (piano department chair, piano) holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from the Hartt School of Music, where she was the recipient of the Hartt Talent Scholarship. At Hartt she studied with Leonard Seeber and Paul Rutman, with a concentration in collaborative piano. Rebecca has performed throughout the Northeast, and has taught at Fairfield County School of Music and the Community Music Center of Boston. She adjudicates regularly in the New England area, and is the Music School’s site coordinator for the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program.

Romeo Melloni

Romeo Melloni (piano, composition) was born in Milan, Italy, and attended Milan University, where he studied musicology with Francesco Degrada. He received his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music and his M.M. and honorary Graduate Diploma in composition from New England Conservatory. His teachers include Robert DiDomenica, Theodore Antoniou, and Giacomo Manzoni. Romeo’s compositions include 75 works of symphonic, chamber, and vocal music that have been performed in Europe and in the United States by the Czech Philarmonic Chamber Orchestra, NH Music Festival, Slovak Radio Orchestra, Martinü Quartet, Solati Trio, and many others. Mr. Melloni teaches piano, theory, and composition at the Manchester Community Music School.

Zsanett Szi-Miklós

Zsanett Szi-Miklós (piano) was born in Hungary and lived there for 25 years. She holds a B.A. in Classical Instrumental Music Performance (Piano) and a M.A. in Teacher Education (specifically in piano teaching) through the University of Debrecen in Hungary. Zsanett’s principal teachers were Sándor Dobos, Ljubomér Borscs, Attila Pless, and Péter Lakatos. In addition to piano, Zsanett recieved voice education and was a member of a chorus for 7 years, including a concert tour through Europe. Zsanett has several years of experience teaching piano for all ages in Hungary, England and in the United States. Zsanett incorporates the Kodály method in her teaching, which is the approach to music education that was developed in Hungary by Zoltán Kodály.