To contact teachers directly by EMAIL, please click on their names.

Sarah Lockwood
​Piano, Violin & Viola

Sarah Lockwood received her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from DePauw University (Greencastle, IN), and her Masters of Music degree in Collaborative Piano at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis). Sarah is also a violinist and violist. In 2013 she accepted a viola position with the Rochester Symphony in Rochester, Minnesota. Sarah has been teaching private piano, violin and viola lessons since 2001. She enjoys working with students of all ages and levels, and encourages adults to study music. Sarah lives in Hastings with her husband and two daughters. She has worked with the Hastings Schools music programs and has been involved with the summer Black Dirt theater productions in Hastings as music director, assistant music director and orchestra musician. In December of 2014 Sarah and her husband, Travis, purchased the former Guardian Angels Catholic Church and began converting it into the new Hastings Arts Center which houses her school, Blessings Academy of Arts and Music.

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Rebecca Clark
​Cello & Beginning Piano

Becky Clark has been teaching private cello lessons for over 15 years and has played in orchestras and professional quartets. She has experience with children with autism and adult cello students. She studied music at St. Mary's University (Winona) and lives in Hastings with her husband and two children.

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Matthew Harikian
​Piano

A native of Fresno, California, Matthew has performed throughout Minnesota and California and has given concerto performances with the Lompoc Pops, Opera San Louis Obispo, and Buffalo Community orchestras. Matthew holds top prizes from the Minnesota Music Teacher Association’s Young Artist competition, the Schubert Club competition, the Glendale competition, and the Sylvia Ghiglieri competition in Turlock, CA. He currently teaches music theory at St. Olaf College and
​piano at the Hastings Arts Center.
-Matthew has participated in Pianofest in the Hamptons, a prestigious summer festival in East Hampton, NY which involved performing and studying with other international pianists, as well as the Meadowmount School of Music, where he performed as a chamber and solo pianist. Sharing an equal interest in both performance and academia, he hopes for his future career to include teaching and researching in the field of music theory while also performing both solo and chamber music.
-Matthew has previously studied with Lydia Artymiw, Kent McWilliams,and Arlene Steffen. He holds a Master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Music Theory.

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Kevin Dewan
​Piano & Voice

"I believe music provides a healthy outlet for emotional expression which is why the idea of teaching people about music energizes me. At Viterbo University, I studied voice and piano and began music education classes.  I also finely tuned my skills in music composition and theory.  My past employment includes the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the Church of St. Rita in Cottage Grove.  My hobbies include attending live music and theater productions, eating out and going to the movies. My goal this year is to bring wisdom, creativity, sensitivity and expressiveness to each student I encounter.  I am grateful to be in a position to share my passion with others."

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Jenna Vieths
​Piano & Voice

Jenna is originally from Hastings, Minnesota and recently moved to Dundas, Minnesota with her husband and two daughters. She is a Hastings High School alumna where she was actively involved in music with Riverside Company and Vocal Jazz. Jenna has been teaching lessons for a couple of years, but has been playing piano and singing most of her life. Jenna attended McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota, majoring  in vocal performance with a minor in piano. She has performed at weddings, coffee shops, and competed in a few local competitions including Hastings Sings during Rivertown Days. Jenna's favorite styles of music to sing are jazz, blues, contemporary, and classical. She also enjoys the outdoors, camping, rollerblading, swimming, and most of all being a mother and wife. 

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Carolyn Campfield
​Voice

Carolyn Campfield received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from the University of Minnesota. As a professional musician, Carolyn has performed with the Minnesota Opera and area Twin Cities orchestras. This year she performed several recitals throughout the area with her collaborative pianist, Sarah Lockwood. Her love of art song is fueled by her life experiences and musical collaborations. She is especially drawn to contemporary American works and she is passionate about sharing art song with her community in the south metro. A classically trained voice teacher, Carolyn was awarded her Voice Movement Therapy practitioner credentials in 1999. Since that time, she has prepared and presented lectures and courses that center upon the connections between body, voice and psyche. Carolyn has an active Voice Movement Therapy Practice at the Center for Performing Arts in Minneapolis, and is looking to teach new students at Blessings Academy.

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Jake Meyer
​Clarinet

Jake Meyer is a performer and teacher currently living in St. Paul, MN, and is the principal clarinetist of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. A passionate teacher of music, Jake has worked with students of all ages and abilities, and he served as a Teaching Assistant while earning his Master’s degree. His duties included teaching private lessons to undergraduate music majors, coaching chamber music, and instructing the clarinet methods course. Recently, he has performed with the Round Top Festival Orchestra and served as principal clarinetist of the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Winds, and Wind Orchestra. He has also appeared as a soloist with the St. Olaf Orchestra on numerous occasions. Jake earned his BM from St. Olaf College and his MM from Florida State University. For more information about lessons with Jake please visit his website 
https://jakemeyerclarinet.com/teaching/.
​Photo credit: Patti Nolan (http://www.pnolanphotography.com/home.html)

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Dave Carbonara
​Bass & Cello  

Dave Carbonara, cello and bass instructor, received both Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Bass Performance from the Juilliard School where he studied with Eugene Levinson and David Walter. His cello background includes over 40 years of playing and 25 years of teaching. He completed Suzuki teacher training in books 1-6 with Dr. Tanya Carey and Jean Dexter. Originally from Long Island, NY, Dave is a freelance bassist in the Twin Cities playing with a variety of orchestras, church jobs, choral groups and jazz and tango groups. He has performed in Thursday Musical, Schubert Club and Summit Music Concerts. He has been a bass section coach for the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies as well as bass instructor at several music festivals. Dave maintains cello and bass teaching studios in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Hastings. He also teaches private lessons at South High School. Prior to his work in MN, Dave performed full time for 20 years with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans and taught at Tulane and Southeastern Universities. His extensive orchestral background also includes Principal Bass with Virginia Symphony and work with Jacksonville Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony (Principal), Music in the Mountains Festival-Durango, Rochester, Duluth (Principal 2008-09), and Mankato Symphonies (Guest Principal). ​

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Trent Tejeda
​Guitar, Composition

After graduating from Hastings High School in 2014, Trent spent two years at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While attending Berklee, he had the opportunity to study composition, performance, and arranging. Feeling called back to Minnesota, Trent is currently taking classes at the University of Minnesota, working toward a Bachelors Degree.  In addition to studying and teaching music, Trent enjoys going on walks with his dog Clover, reading novels, playing basketball, and working with his newly formed band, "The Montes".

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Melyssa Rice
​Voice

Melyssa Rice has taught singing using humor and empathy for over 20 years, to students of all ages, genres and experience levels. Her specialty is communicating high-level vocal technique -- how to produce relaxed, healthy, beautiful sound throughout the range, every time you sing. Melyssa uses plain English, anatomical explanations, and imagery to guide students as they build muscle memory, and she creates exercises and selects repertoire customized to each student's goals. Topic covered include: diaphragmatic breathing, support, eliminating laryngeal tension, resonance, vowel optimization, projection, placement, chiaroscuro, and high voice release.  In addition to vocal technique, Melyssa also coaches German and Italian diction, judges singing competitions, coaches audition performances, and gives master classes. Past teaching positions include voice faculty at Seattle Central, South Seattle, Bellevue and Shoreline Community Colleges, and at the Music Center of the Northwest. Melyssa's students are performing on opera stages, as musical theater soloists, as paid choristers, and as lead singers in pop, alternative, jazz and heavy metal bands; some of them are voice teachers themselves; and 100% of her long-term classical high school students received college vocal music scholarships. As a singer, Melyssa has performed opera roles, opera/oratorio solos with orchestra, and classical music in six solo concerts and too many shared concerts to count! She has also been lead singer for two bands: a 16-piece swing band and a small folk/funk band. Currently, Melyssa is an active professional soloist for Thursday Musical. 

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Natalie Vanburkleo-Carbonara Violin & Viola

Natalie enjoys an active teaching and performing career.  A native of the Twin Cities, she co-directs the Nova Classical String Program and is the founder/director of the Summit Music Series.  Natalie is currently a member of the Rochester Symphony, freelances
throughout the Twin Cities and manages Arioso Strings.  She is a frequent violin sectional coach and adjudicator for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS). Prior to her work in Minnesota, while living in Lousiana, she performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and directed the violin preparatory program at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.  She has been a soloist with the Louisiana Sinfonietta and Minnesota Sinfonia and has held positions in orchestras such as Music in the Mountains Festival- Durango, Baton Rouge Symphony, Louisiana Sinfonietta, Gulf Coast Symphony, Duluth Symphony, and  Acadiana Symphony, among others.--Natalie's most influential mentors include Kevork Mardirossian, Mark Bjork and the late Mary Bahr.  She received her Bachelor of Music in Performance degree from Louisiana State University as a recipient of the David Chang Memorial Scholarship and also studied violin for several years at the University of Minnesota. 

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*Photo credit to Andrew Hill, unless indicated otherwise.