Musical Chairs Studio

Voice and Group Classes

VOICE

Stuart Thompson (voice) has sung with Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist. He made his professional stage debut with Nashville Opera in the Young Artist Main Stage production of Hansel and Gretel, a role he reprised from his time at DePaul University. Thompson was a participant in the Baldwin Wallace Art Song Festival, singing for notable artists such as Lawrence Brownlee, Christine Brewer, and master coaches Martin Katz and Craig Rutenberg. He traveled with Opera For the Young, touring Rusalka: A Mermaid's Tale throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana. His other DePaul credits include Orfeo in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, #7 in Conrad Susa's Transformations, and Marco in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. He also sang the role of Schlendrian in Bach's Koffee Kantate accompanied by DePaul's University Singers. Recently Thompson has been heard singing for the Elgin Opera Festival of Song, and with a similar troop in Chicago, Opera Inter Alia.

Davin Youngs (voice) is a 2003 graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and student of Richard Miller, baritone. Davin has carved a successful niche for himself as a professional vocalist and teacher in Chicago and abroad. Classically trained, Youngs is equally at home in many musical styles from Sacred to Musical Theatre to Jazz. For the past five years he served as the solo vocalist for the consort in residence at Grace Chicago Church. He has also performed as a soloist and member of the William Ferris Chorale for four years as well as in various churches throughout the city of Chicago and the Midwest. His broad repertoire and large musical vocabulary make Youngs a unique and vital contributor to the Chicago music scene. Davin’s attitude toward private voice instruction is that the teaching of singing should be a fun process that takes place in a safe space. His teaching emphasizes vocal health and discovering a student’s voice in its purest form. This is achieved by dedication to proper vocal technique. Whether gearing up for an audition or just beginning with little intention of performing, Youngs is at ease tailoring lesson to his students needs, strengths and abilities. His intention is that his students will become better singers and also grow as people. DavinYoungs.com

Julia Tarlo (piano and voice) Originally from Philadelphia, Julia has appeared in numerous opera productions and recitals throughout the east coast and midwest. She is currently an associate member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and recently traveled to Carnegie Hall with them to sing Verdi's Otello and Berlioz's Lelio. During the week, Julia is a section leader with the United Methodist Temple Choir in downtown Chicago, and teaches private voice and piano lessons in the Chicago area. Julia has her Bachelor of Music from SUNY Purchase in New York and a Master of Music degree from the Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Cassandra Fox (piano, voice, guitar) holds a Master's Degree in Music Therapy from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor's Degree in Music & Communications from Wheaton College. She has been working as a Board-Certified Music Therapist in the Chicago area for over 10 years, and her work within the music therapy field has primarily been with youth populations in special education and social service settings. In addition to music therapy, Cassie teaches traditional piano and guitar to children, adolescents, teenagers, and adults. She is also an instructor with Encore Music Lessons, Inc. and teaches group piano at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

STEP THE BEAT (group classes)

Lynn Allavoine (Step the Beat) studied the harp for ten years as a child, learning solfege alongside. Her love for music was kindled for life, but she found the solfege taught to her in France to be didactic and frustrating... until she discovered the Kodaly Method with Musical Chair's Step The Beat. Now she gets to be the music teacher she always wished she'd had, sharing concepts of rhythm and melody in a hands-on, intuitive and age-appropriate way. She earned a BA in Literature from Yale University (after studying bio-chemistry there for her first two years!), a Masters in Education from De Paul University, and created a full-immersion curriculum to learn foreign languages in a song-and-play based delivery for Language Stars. She has been a teacher since high school, accumulating experience in formats ranging from private classes, tutoring, summer camps, enrichment group classes, teaching in elementary, middle and high schools. When not with Step The Beat, she currently enjoys giving individualized private classes in French to children and adults, developing her scientific and commercial translation practice, learning to play the guitar and to turn pots on the potter's wheel. She looks forward to becoming increasingly involved with Lincoln Square's vibrant education community.

Lisa Borelli (Founder, piano, Step the Beat) has been playing the piano since she was five years old. Under the direction of Lucretia Peterson of Salt Lake City, Utah, Lisa played competitively on a state level throughout Junior and High School. She received numerous honors in piano performance, played publicly throughout the inter-mountain area, and also participated in the music and vocal program at Lewis and Clark College of Portland, Oregon. The mother of three musical children, she currently teaches twenty-two thriving students and is thrilled to augment her program with the diverse and high-quality instruction of the other Musical Chairs instruction team. Lisa believes music is the single most important childhood experience that has shaped her life and feels blessed for the opportunity to pass this on to other children. In addition to teaching, Lisa is the accompanist for the Queen of Angels Cherub Choir and an active Real Estate Agent with Rubloff Residential Properties. In 2008, she was recognized as "Top Producer" by the Chicago Association of Realtors.

Kent Jager (piano, organ, Step the Beat) has 25 years of experience in music instruction. In addition to his collaboration with Musical Chairs, Kent is the Director of Music at Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Parish in Chicago where he oversees a graded choir program, serves as organist and teaches music in the parish elementary school. At Queen of Angels Mr. Jager has establish three new vocal groups, the Cherub Choir for children in grades 1 – 3, the Choristers for children in grades 4-8, and a folk group for adults and high school students and continues to build the Queen of Angels Singers, the parish choir which focuses on more traditional choral music. As the school music teacher he has introduced a Kodaly program for grades K – 5 and established a hand bell program in the middle school. Prior to coming to Queen of Angels, Mr. Jager worked in numerous parishes in the Chicago area and Iowa including Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago and First Presbyterian Church in Evanston. Mr. Jager received his Master's in Music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he was a student of Grigg Fountain. He attended Central College in Pella.

John Szymanski (guitar, drums, ensemble) has been playing guitar since the age of five, and has since become proficient in many other instruments. He began studying percussion in the beginning band at Leigh Elementary School in Norridge, IL and picked up piano and bass skills along the way. John has a Bachelor of Music degree from Elmhurst College where he studied with many luminaries including Doug Beach, Judy Grimes and Bob Rummage. As a general music teacher at Queen of Angels School in Chicago, he combines all of his musical experiences to teach children in a relaxed yet informative manner. He feels that learning music is often more fun when a student has hands-on experience reading music, figuring out rhythms, and playing instruments - making it a more personal and gratifying education. Outside of teaching, John is a very active performer playing guitar, bass, drums and keyboards in four different Chicago-area bands. He is also currently working on several projects as a composer, studio musician, audio engineer, photographer and video editor. He believes that music is the best form of personal expression and enjoys sharing this with others as often as he can.