o Staff o
Ms. Mercedes Lovera
Mrs. Mercedes Lovera is a distinguished musician and educator with an international background in music performance, and pedagogy. She holds a Master's degree as a Pianist and Violin.
As a versatile violinist, Mrs. Lovera was a valued member of the Simon Bolivar National Symphony Orchestra, participating in numerous tours across Latin America, the US, and Central Europe. Her passion for chamber music led her to further her studies at the Mozarteum University of Vienna in Salzburg, Austria, where she specialized in piano and participated in tours spanning Spain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
Currently, Mrs. Lovera's teaching focus at the Juliet Music and Art Center is on piano and violin instruction across various levels. She is dedicated to nurturing her students' technical skills, as well as fostering their expressive and interpretative capacities, ensuring a well-rounded musical education for each student under her guidance.
Ms. Antonia Szilagi
Ms. Antonia Szilagi is a Voice and Piano instructor whose professional studies include LaGuardia High School and the Mannes School of music. She had an extensive career as a cross over singer including Off Broadway, Young Audience tours and regional opera.
She has taught private students and groups for over 20 years in a variety of Music Schools in the New York area. Her students have been accepted to many prestigious music schools and some are currently performing professionally.
In addition to being a music instructor, she has also worked as an early childhood teacher in various nursery schools in New Orleans and New York, including Mommy and Me programs.
She is currently on staff at the Juliet Music and Art where she assists with homework help and additional afterschool activities.
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Ms. Miriam Kessler
Ms. Miriam Kessler served as an executive board on the PS99Q Parents Association and was a co-president. She assisted with bringing together parent volunteers to work together to and enrich children's education.
Her husband David Ezra Stein is an author and illustrator of children's books which includes the Interrupting Chicken series. His books were published for children in early childhood to elementary age. Ms. Kessler had also worked with librarians and PTA to coordinate author visits to tailor presentations that can be tailored to the age level of children groups to connect and build with school's reading or writing curriculum.
She is currently on staff at the Juliet Music and Art where she assists with homework help and additional afterschool activities.
PS99Q Parents association
Mr. Shane Alessio
Mr. Shane Alessio is a highly skilled professional musician with a degree in Jazz Music from Berklee College of Music. A native of Boston, MA, he has extensive experience teaching in various music institutions, providing private guitar instruction to students of all ages and skill levels. Throughout his career, Mr. Alessio has collaborated with numerous musicians and orchestras, while also establishing himself as a composer of both live performances and recordings. His expertise in lesson planning and his deep understanding of students' developmental needs contribute to achieving exceptional learning outcomes.
Mr. Aaron Takiff
Mr. Aaron Takiff is a percussionist with a degree in Music Performance from SUNY Oneonta. He has studied with various instructors including Alex Cohen, Tim Baltes, Blake Fleming and Michael Morales.
His previous teaching experience includes being an instructor at the Multi-Arts Academy where he has taught private drum and theory lessons to various age students.
His performing experience includes a six-person marching band at Dorney Park for the company Windish Music. He also has a variety of live performances in various venues, performing rock music.
Mr. Aaron Takiff is currently a staff at the Juliet Music and Art Center for the Drum department.
Ms. Noriko Tomikawa
Ms. Noriko Tomikawa graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music with a Bachelors of Music in Piano performance.
She is a current staff at the Juliet Music and Art for the piano department. Her teaching style includes a variety of musical genres including Jazz, classical, and sight reading. She was an accompanist for vocal classes in Japan as well as a piano instructor at the Collective School of Music.
Her performing experience includes various styles of music from Jazz, Latin and Caribbean.
Ms. Keiko Hira
Ms. Keiko Hira is a Voice and Piano instructor whose professional studies are from the Musashino Academia Muscae in Tokyo, Japan with a Masters degree in Vocal and Musical education.
Her teaching experience includes being a music teacher in the Preschool of America in New York and has taught piano lessons individually. She has also performed extensively in a variety of Asian countries.
Ms. Keiko is also a part of the SAG AFTRA which is a screen actors guild for radio and television arts.
Ms. Keiko Hira is a current staff at the Juliet Music and Art for piano, voice and Chinese lessons on an individual basis.
Ms. M. Jean Keh
Ms. Jean Keh Myung is a professional pianist who has a passion for teaching Piano lessons, harmony and music theory. She has taught students for more than 20 years who have performed in recitals with great success. Her teaching experience includes the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory and Metronome School of Music.
Her professional education is from the Julliard School of Music with a Masters degree in music. She has also studied at the Musikakademie Musik School in Austria.
Her awards include the Morton B. Knafel Memorial Scholarship from the Julliard School. She was a first prize winner at the Elena Rombro-Stepanow Piano competition in Vienna, Austria and a first prize winner at the Temple University Summer Music Festival Piano competition.
Ms. Kelly Tang
Ms. Kelly Tang graduated from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan with a BFA in 2D Animation. She has been studying Fine Arts at a young age and attended programs in Cooper Union. She also attend various ateliers and classes of independent artists in the city and participated in 2D animated video projects. Her passion in Art begins with a strong foundation to start drawing anything you want, regardless of age. She has experience in creating portfolios for high school and college art exams and projects for contests.
She can work in many medias including but not limited to pencil, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic paints, gouache paints, oil paints, printmaking, sculpture and many more. She highly encourages students to explore art and out of the comfort zone, while still sharpening and developing basic drawing and observational skills and keeping marking art fun.