Teaching Artists
Our teaching staff is composed of professional musicians and educators whose mentoring and inspirational teaching methods encourage students to strive for excellence in all that they do. Our teachers hold graduate and undergraduate degrees from institutions like Cal Arts, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal State LA, and other respected universities; many of them also maintain active careers as music educators, composers and performers. For these dedicated individuals, working at the Neighborhood Music School is an opportunity to practice their craft while serving as a mentor and model to generations of students at Neighborhood Music School.
Matthew Angel
A Classical Strings Teacher and Performer, born and raised in the heart of East Los Angeles.
Matthew started his musical journey right here at Neighborhood Music School and has been offered a position a teaching Artist. He studied Music Performance at LACC and has studied under the private tutelage of violin/viola teachers Anna Antonian NMS 2004, Mickey Fruchter NMS 2008, Dr Alexander Kalman LACC, and Tamsen Beseke of the LA Opera.
Matthew has been a teaching artist and manager of Programs in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Gabriel and Claremont. Has been chair of the Strings Department of the SCM, Orchestra Coordinator of HOLAIO, Conductor and Teaching Artist of the Esperanza Azteca YO, and Conductor and Strings Instructor of The Claremont USD Elementary Music Program,
Matthews main goal is to form the first Youth Orchestra of East Los Angeles and help youths of East LA stay off the streets, away from drugs and gangs. To bring classical music into their lives, and help them discover their true God given talents, and help them succeed in life.
Anna Antonian – Violin, Viola, and Piano
Anna Antonian completed graduate studies in music at the Institute of Fine Arts of the former Soviet Union. Anna played in Madrigal Orchestra for seven years touring different countries. Anna immigrated to the United States in 1992 and has been teaching Violin, Viola, and Piano since September 1997 here at Neighborhood Music School. Anna also works at Los Angeles Music and Art school in East Los Angeles as a Violin teacher.
michael cooper, piano
Balam Garcia – Guitar and Bass
Balam Garcia is a Los Angeles based guitarist and composer who combines groove based styles such as Blues, Funk and Soul music with his Jazz and Classical music training and influences. Born in the state of Veracruz, Mexico and raised in Los Angeles, California, it is no wonder that this culturally mixed musician manages to incorporate such an eclectic variety of sounds into his playing and compositions. His sounds are reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Fender Strat-fueled blues guitar playing, combined with Herbie Hancock’s harmonically and rhythmically driven styles of improvisation, all the while, paying homage to the west coast Hip-Hop sounds of his hometown of Los Angeles and the many world music styles he grew up listening to at home, including music from West Africa, India, Brazil, Cuba and his native country of Mexico. Balam Garcia aims to bring peace to his community and the rest of the world by spreading positive vibrations through conscious music.
logan hone- woodwinds & Community Band
Logan is a music lover, multi-instrumental musician, music teacher, and composer based in Los Angeles. He grew up in a musical family in Sacramento, then Salt Lake City, singing in church choirs and picking up instruments along the way including piano, drums, guitar, and flute. He found his passion in the 7th grade when he got his hands on an alto saxophone, which he studied throughout highschool and college.
He teaches woodwinds & directs ensembles at Neighborhood Music School including an all-ages, all-skill-levels Community Band at Hermon Park in partnership with Art in the Park.
He is an active member of the music community, performing and recording with a heaven's host of jazz, pop, and folk musicians including Similar Fashion, The Lucky Devils, and John Carroll Kirby. Slug Magazine called his music "an exhilarating and sugar-coated ride" and KFJC said his music "evoke(s) the joy of living in California and the joy of living in general."
Find his music at loganhone.com
Jennifer Chun, cello
Albert Gonzalez, Voice
Eric Johnson, Woodwinds
Eric Johnson is a Los Angeles based woodwind instrumentalist, composer, and producer. He can be seen performing in local jazz venues as well as touring with soul and r&b group Thee Sinseers. While earning his masters in jazz and improvisational music from University of Nevada Reno, he was awarded a graduate teaching assistant position working with undergraduate jazz ensembles.
Emanuel Keller, Cello
Lenin Lugo, piano
Caster Teoh – Trumpet and Trombone
Hailing from Penang, Malaysia, Dr. Caster Teoh, serves as Principal Trumpet at Dream Orchestra of Los Angeles. Since coming to the United States, Caster has appeared in numerous orchestras, including the American Youth Symphony, Orange County Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, Quad City Symphony, Cedar Rapids Opera, and West Coast Chamber Orchestra. While in college, he was one of the finalists in the Maia Quartet competition and was awarded outstanding Pi Kappa Lambda award in 2007. Caster has performed with many professional ensembles, including the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Malaysia, and the Kumamoto International Orchestra. During the summers, he has performed in many countries, including Brazil, Italy, Japan, Korea, Belgium, Taiwan, Australia, Thailand, and Canada. A doctoral graduate from the USC Thornton School of Music, Caster was inducted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society in 2007 and 2013. Caster is a much sought after teacher of trumpet. His students have won numerous music awards, and been admitted to acclaimed universities such as University of Michigan and Eastman School of Music. Caster has been teaching at the Neighborhood Music School since 2015.
Masatoshi Sato – Upright Bass
Masatoshi Sato is a bass player, composer and educator. As a child, he moved from Japan to Montreal, Canada, where he discovered Jazz. He was inspired by Charlie Haden at the Montreal Jazz Festival and moved to Los Angeles, California to study at California Institute of the Arts and was mentored by Charlie Haden, Darek Oles, and Peter Rofe from The Los Angeles Philharmonic. He's currently residing in Los Angeles area, performing, recording, and educating young artists.
Gerardo Morales – Guitar and drums
Gerardo Morales was born and raised in East Los Angeles, he began playing guitar and drums at age 12. He was influenced by various styles of music, such as Classical, Latin, traditional Mexican Rancheras, 80s music, Hip Hop and Rock n’ Roll.
Gerardo has toured and performed with Grammy award winning artists such as Ozomatli, Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, Kanye West and members of the Carlos Santana band.
In 2012, he released his first album Morales.Lara’s Dreaming Awake. He has worked on films including Toy Story 3, Little Fockers, and Think Like a Man. Gerardo is one of the founding member of the band The Mighty Tears of Joy and is currently working with JME on his newest album.
Gerardo earned his BFA at the Conservatorio Profesional De Música Cristóbal De Morales in Sevilla, Spain. He currently teaches guitar at Neighborhood Music School, Hollywood High School, and King Middle School.
Gerardo is also an accomplished musician and producer who performs throughout the United States, Spain, and Latin America. He is an essential member of LA’s Subsuelo, and under his direction produces Flamenco, Latin, Hip Hop, R&B, and Pop shows throughout the country.
Jason McNally – Piano
Jason McNally has been teaching at the Neighborhood Music School for 10 years. Jason was born in Doylestown, PA and did undergraduate study at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Ohio. After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Piano performance, Jason moved to Los Angeles and obtained his Master’s in Piano from the University of Southern California. In addition to teaching at NMS and privately, Jason works as a church organist and serves on the board of the Long Beach Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
John Rogers – Piano
John Rogers studied piano performance at the University of West Florida and moved to California after graduating. He was awarded the 2011 Pasadena City College Piano Accompanying Award for Outstanding Contribution, the 2011 Music Teacher’s Association of California Award for “Unusual Promise in the Field of Piano Performance” and the 2012 Collaborative Piano Award in honor of Betty Dandy. John works as a freelance pianist and enjoys learning from every performing opportunity he is given. He also volunteers his playing to the Filipino Choir at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church. John’s students have won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in the Jack Gard Music Competition and have been accepted to the Colburn Conservatory. When John is not busy teaching, performing, or practicing, you can find him hiking around the city with his dog, Canelo.
erika salas, violin, mariachi
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Natalia Hudson – Piano
Natalia Hudson has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. and Europe in numerous festivals and concerts, including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, First Night Charleston, the International Piano Series, the Young Artist Concert Series, the Drayton Hall, the LACC, and Moreno Valley College Concert Series. A native of South Carolina, Natalia was awarded the Isabella Mebane Piano Performance Scholarship to pursue a performance degree under Uruguayan pianist Enrique Graf at the College of Charleston. She continued her artist education at the Conservatory in Madrid, Spain under German-born pianist, Uta Weyand. Her other main influences include Vitalij Margulis (Ukraine), Ilana Vered (Israel), and currently Oxana Yablonskaya (Russia/Israel). She received her Master’s degree from the University of Southern California and has participated in the World Piano Pedagogy (WPPC), MTNA, and Focus on Piano Literature conferences. She is also skilled at teaching in Spanish, and has taught master classes, private lessons and dual-immersion classes in Spanish and English. A member of the California and National Music Teacher Associations, Ms. Hudson is a sought-after teacher, having conducted lessons in music schools throughout Los Angeles including Neighborhood Music School in Boyle Heights and her private piano studio, Hudson Conservatory. Her first solo piano album, Balancing Darkness and Light, is being released this year. Founder of the Mt. Olive Concert Series in Pasadena and Artistic Director of Melos Music Chamber Ensemble, Natalia firmly believes in the power of music to heal, uplift, and unite people by transcending any boundaries of race, gender, religious, economic or cultural backgrounds. She is currently thrilled to be on the piano faculty and have her students participate in the elite Oxana Yablonskaya Piano Institute (OYPI) in various parts of the world, including Bulgaria, Spain, and Israel. For more information about her teaching philosophy and performance schedule, please visit nataliahudson.com.
Rafael Liebich – Piano
Brazilian-American pianist Rafael Liebich has earned degrees from the State University of Campinas (B.M., 2001), the Federal University of the Rio Grande do Sul State (M. M., 2004), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music (2012). He was faculty and Artist-In-Residence at University of La Verne (2015 - 2021), and currently holds teaching positions at El Camino College (where he also acts as Coordinator of the Applied Keyboard Area), and Neighborhood Music School in Los Angeles (where he also acts as Director of Programs and Evaluation). Much sought as a performer, collaborative, and recording artist, he has performed for various concert series throughout Southern California, and worked in studio recordings for soundtracks of short movies and documentaries. An advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Liebich actively pursues embracing diversity in his performances as well as in his pedagogical practice. He is a member of the International Society for Music Education, and his scholarly work includes publications in music analysis, music education and sociology, and music interpretation and aesthetics. From USC Thornton School of Music he received honors such as the Keyboard Ensemble Award, the Keyboard Studies Department Award, as well as induction into the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honors Society. In his spare time, Rafael enjoys long walks, cooking, and taking care of his orchids.
Sarah Palma – Piano
Sarah Palma is a pianist and piano instructor based in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently completing her final undergrad semester as a Piano Performance Major at California State University, Northridge. Her interest in piano pedagogy began after taking her first semester of a Piano Pedagogy course at CSUN. In her music department’s Honors Convocation, she received the Piano Pedagogy Award for two consecutive school years. She plans to continue her education and pursue a Masters Degree in Piano Performance with emphasis on Piano Pedagogy. It is important to her that both piano and music education are approached with fresh ideas and methods.
Tany Ling – Voice
Tany Ling is a soprano and specializes in performing new, experimental, and microtonal music and cross-genre works. In addition to numerous operatic and chamber music premieres, she previously toured extensively as soloist with the rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra as well as the all-original big band Industrial Jazz Group. Her voice appears in James Cameron’s film “Avatar” as well as Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s album “Nightcastle” (Lava/Atlantic). Her ongoing collaborations with the art community have led to performances for Pacific Standard Time and CURRENT:LA, and at art institutions including The Getty and Hammer Museum. Ms. Ling holds a M.F.A. in Vocal Performance from CalArts and a Bachelor of Music from University of California, Irvine.
frank fairfield – guitar, violin
Frank Fairfield is a multi-instrumentalist, music teacher, and record collector. He spent many years performing Anglo-American vernacular music around the country and the world performing at such notable venues as the Kennedy Center, playing at festivals including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and the Newport Folk Festival, appearing on NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts, and providing music for film and television including the animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall. He now focuses on teaching vernacular music and studying 17th- and 18th-century violin repertoire and performance practice. Frank lives and teaches in Los Angeles, California.
stuart wheeler, voice
Matthew Hernandez, outreach teacher
Teaching Artist Matthew Hernandez is a saxophonist, flautist, percussionist, vocalist, composer, songwriter, bandleader, and recording artist from Boyle Heights. He first picked up the saxophone when he was 13 years old at El Sereno Middle School and through Neighborhood Music School, he studied saxophone and jazz theory privately with several teaching artists, but most notably saxophonist Joe Santamaria and guitarist Balam Garcia. He also studied composition in a private setting with Professors Trevor Anderies and Kevin Kelly of the Herb Alpert Music Center in Los Angeles. Matthew has had the honor to share the stage and learn from many distinct artists and music educators such as Arturo Sandoval, Oscar Hernandez, Eddie Resto, Luis Conte, Germaine Franco, Euro Zambrano, Justo Almario, David Urquidi, George Shelby, Jose “Perico” Hernandez, Kevin Ricard, Dr. JB Dyas, Dr. Rafael Liebich, Kassandra Kocoshis, Aaron Serfaty, Chamo Saurez, Brain Carmody, Tony White, Dr. Milen Kirov, Carlos Eduardo Verde Jr., and Joey de Leon.
Within his time at Neighborhood Music School, his role resembles a sort of metamorphosis, as he began as a student in 2016. He was reintroduced to the school as the Program Intern in 2020, and then again in 2021 within his current administrative role of Scheduler. Since June of 2022, he began working as a Teaching Artist with varying teaching assignments. Through Neighborhood Music School, he has also provided community enrichment programming at Puente Charter Elementary School, and Art in the Park LA. leading the Art in the Park Latin Jazz Band. Additionally, Matthew has performed masterclasses and special presentations around Latin music and dance for the Cochlear Implant Music Hour Lab of USC Keck Medicine and other educational institutions around Los Angeles on his own time.
Matthew has also been featured on the recordings of “Para Ti” and “Mueven Bien” by Timba Tumbao. Since becoming the music director for Timba Tumbao in 2020, Matthew has helped establish the band’s identity as one of the top performing salsa cover groups in Southern California. He also founded his own latin jazz quartet last year in 2024 named Latin Mantra Project. Both under the creative lead of Matthew Hernandez, Timba Tumbao and Latin Mantra Project are currently in the recording process and are expected to release their debut albums in 2025.