Susan Cobb Director / General Manager
"If You're Gonna ROCK... Do It HARD!!!"
As the Director and General Manager for the Paul Green School of Rock Music's Fort Lauderdale locations Susan oversees all aspects of the schools business-related activities.
Susan is responsible for the strategic development and overall management of the school. Her role is to ensure that EVERY student experience and receive the rewards and benefits provided by The Paul Green School of Rock Music through its proven curriculum and unique interactive teaching method.
Prior to joining the PGSORM Susan held career positions in the fast-paced world of motor sports including NASCAR, Indy Car (CART), and Professional Sports Car Racing (IMSA) where she gained experience and honed her skills in the areas of sponsorship, marketing, promotions, and special events. In 2001 Susan joined the Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta as the Sales and Marketing Manager. During her tenure at Hard Rock, Susan was instrumental in the development, design, and management of the café's 300-capacity "live" venue, the Velvet Underground hosting local, regional, and national acts. Also while in Atlanta, Susan was involved in sponsorship, artist selection, and served as an industry panelist for the Atlantis Music Conference & Festival. Susan is a member of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) and is active in both the Atlanta and Florida chapters.
Since leaving Hard Rock in January 2004 Susan has operated her own successful consulting firm servicing a wide-array of clients in the music, sports and entertainment industries. She also handles publicity and promotions for longtime friend Johnny Colt, bassist for Grammy-award winning band Train, super-group Rock Star: Supernova with Tommy Lee, and founding member and original bass player for The Black Crowes.
Susan also has a passion for charitable and philanthropic causes with particular emphasis on children, animals, and the environment and lends both her time and talent for fundraising to numerous organizations.
When not at work Susan enjoys running, rollerblading, snow skiing, and a variety of water sports. On the less physical side she is a voracious reader with extremely diverse literary tastes and her musical preferences are just as eclectic... "My music collection ranges from Zeppelin to Johnny Cash to Muddy Waters to Chopin and everything in between... Floyd, Janice, Ozzy, Kid Rock, Jeff Buckley, the Stones, the Crowes; the bazillion different bands my friends are in; anything with 'old skool' guitar and/or drum solos; gospel; bluegrass... what else can I say... Music is my passion and fortunately it's my job too."
Burny Pelsmajer Senior Music Director
Teaching keyboards, saxophones, guitar, bass, and drums, multi-instrumentalist Burny Pelsmajer is the Senior Music Director for The Paul Green School of Rock Music in Coral Springs. Burny leads all music-related activities at the school and is responsible for the quality of music instruction and performance of students and staff alike. Burny was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He began taking piano lessons at the age of five, and before he knew it, he was singing, playing soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet, flute, B3 organ, drums, bass and guitar, many of which he taught himself. He had the bug and he had it bad, much to the chagrin of his parents (they were hoping for a lawyer)!
While studying at Oberlin Conservatory, Burny acquired skills in nearly every style of music he could find, including Jazz, R&B, Salsa, Hip-hop, Rock, Brazilian, Afrobeat and more. He specializes in tenor saxophone and piano and has grown into one of the most versatile multi-instrumentalists on the scene today, performing, composing, recording and traveling regularly with both established and up-and-coming musicians like himself: Muhal Richard-Abrams, Jon Arons, Amiri Baraka, Angela Bofill, Kristin Chenowith, Chembo Corniel, Calvin Edwards, Gregory Hines, Shelby Johnson, Carole King, Jojo Kuo, Joe Lovano, James McBride, Fred McFarlane, James Moody, Me'lissa Morgan, Chris Parrello, Mike Phillips, Angie Stone and Courtney Williams, just to name a few! Burny's passion, desire, and dedication for mentoring and fostering a whole new generation of musical talent is apparent to everyone who meets him.
Gina Turchiaro Lead Vocal Coach
Gina Turchiaro is the Lead Vocal Coach at the Paul Green School of Rock Music in Coral Springs. Gina has been singing professionally for the past 12 years in South Florida and has performed with several notable acts including Obsession, Something Like This, Powerhouse, Ebony & Ivory, The David & Adam Duo, DAT Band, Fifth Avenue Band, The Usual Suspects, The Specials,and Justa Head. She has been contracted by prominent south Florida entertainment agencies Lawrence of Florida, Pennhouse Productions, New Attitude Productions, Mike Sipe Entertainment, and Gaffney Productions as a rostered artist. Gina has recently been performing in Las Vegas, Nevada with the rock cover band All Things Considered.
Gina has appeared live on the WAXY-AM radio program hosted by "Wolfman." She was recently the featured singer at Flamingo Gardens for “Jazz Under the Oaks” sponsored by The Miami Herald, and broadcast on LOVE 94-FM radio. Her influences range from Linda Rondstadt, Pat Benatar, and Selena, to Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Susan Tedeshi, and many more.
An educator and Specialist with The School Board of Broward County in Florida, and most recently Clark County Schools in Las Vegas. Nevada, Gina also has a Masters degree in Educational Administration. Part time, she is a real estate agent, aerobics and kickboxing instructor, as well as a personal trainer. Her love for singing and entertaining though is quite obvious, and you will find her singing most evenings and weekends. She plays guitar, writes her own songs, and has also choreographed dances for middle and high school performances specializing in jazz, funk, and hip hop. She has appeared in the movie “Porky’s” filmed on location on Star Island, as well as several Miami Vice episodes. In New York City, Gina represented her school and borough by singing as a soloist in concert at the infamous “Carnegie Hall.”
Phill Bower Lead Guitar instructor
Phillip was born in Fort Lauderdale, Fl and began playing the guitar at be age of 5, learning initially from his father. By age 8 he was taking professional lessons from Bryan Thomas at Broward Band in Fort Lauderdale for about 4 years. In the sixth grade Phillip was in the school band and played Alto Saxophone. Though he enjoyed his experience, he had already decided guitar would be his main instrument of choice!
Continuing onto high school Phillip started taking lessons from Ray Carlin, whom he studied with for about 4 years. Phillip began to be very active throughout with the local music scene as he formed various rock bands (Northern Lights, Chasing Manhattan) and had his first on stage performances and studio sessions with his main band Chasing Manhattan.
After graduating from Fort Lauderdale High School, Phillip enrolled into the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in Miami. There he was trained to operate studio consoles, live sound equipment, and Pro Tools recording software, which proved very valuable. He received his diploma from the School of Audio Engineering in 2004.
Phillip continued his education at Broward Community College and was in the Music Performance program for Jazz guitar. Being able to play piano was a necessity for music majors, so Phillip took piano lessons while at BCC for 2 years. He studied guitar with Mike Kaplan for 3 years, received his A.A., and has transferred to Florida Atlantic University in Boca to continue his jazz guitar studies.
Phillip Bower is active throughout the local music scene as he often plays in various bands and private recording sessions. Check him out live, or come see him shred at the School of Rock!
Shawn Hagood Lead Drum Instructor
Teaching the young hopefuls behind the old woods n' skins, is none other than Shawn Pierre Hagood. As lead drum instructor, he enforces rhythmic precision over the young tadpoles, and is responsible for the individual growth and progress of every drum student enrolled in the program.
Shawn Pierre was born in Charleston, SC and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa. His first instrument was piano, and when his talents were noticed, his parents enrolled him in a private lesson program in Pittsburgh, where they could be honed. "I can only remember taking lessons for a couple months though, because not only was it a long drive every Monday, but I wasn't being challenged enough." When that didn't work out, he continued playing keys with the band at the Potter's House Ministries off and on. He joined the Gateway High School Drumline (Monroeville, Pa) and didn't realize that percussion would take over his life. As college audition time rolled around, he wimped out on majoring in piano, decided to major in percussion, and was accepted into the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
While studying at IUP, Shawn Pierre worked with Gateway High School's Indoor Drumlines as well as their outdoor program. He performed in four ensembles during his time there, and he is still a PAS (Percussive Arts Society) member, as well as an accomplished WGI performer and a DCI veteran. He is now continuing his studies at Florida Atlantic University, majoring in Performance as well as Music Education.
Along the way, he has played with many local artists and groups, including Nikki Smith-Porter, Trini Massie, and VOJ of Indiana, Pa. His playing styles are strongly influenced by artists such as Chick Corea, Dave Weckl, Buddy Rich, Carter Beauford, Terreon Gully, Steve Smith, Gary Burton, and Clyde Stubblefield.
Through the influence of Jam bands, Marching percussion, Gospel and Rock bands, he has grown into a rounded musician where creativity and spontaneity don’t argue with his precision and execution. He strives to teach all of that to his students, and is ready to teach YOU!
Lori Button Vocal Instructor
Lori is a Junior Commercial Music student with the track of composition at Florida Atlantic University. Her studied music instrument is Voice, and she has taken privately since the age of thirteen. She is unique as she has a performing background in Musical Theatre and her first acting role was at the age of five. Raised in Louisville KY, at seventeen she auditioned for Kentucky's Governors School for the Arts, and was asked to be a part of the Musical Theatre Arts program. The opportunity landed her a very generous scholarship at Millikin University studying Musical Theatre. However, she quickly realized her true gift was dissecting songs and not people! She is most in her element when songwriting and has been a member of the Northern California Songwriter's Association since 2004. She received an honorable mention in their national songwriter's contest for her song "Black and White". She is also an active member of The Recording Academy's GrammyU program and has amazing artist opportunities in thanks to that. She has also taken voice lessons from famous speech level singing teachers such as Dean Kaelin (American Idol’s David Archuletta's teacher) and has began studying that technique.
Mike Boyet Guitar Instructor & Assistant to the MD
When he was a wee lad, Mike "The Resonator" Boyet discovered that he had a special talent. A talent, that Mike "The Defibrillator" Boyet had to share with one and all.
Come to the SOR to see Mike "The Hearty Gnome" Boyet do that thing he does so good.
Gaspar Administrative Assistant
He Shakes.
And Bakes.
And make the ladies knees quake.