Our Experienced Music Teachers
All of School of Rock Blue Valley’s music teachers are experienced musicians devoted to helping students attain musical proficiency. Our instructors guide students one-on-one to personalize learning, inspire confidence and build social skills.
Elizabeth O'Donnell
Keyboard + Piano Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher, Drum Teacher, Vocal Teacher
Elizabeth teaches guitar, bass, piano, drums, and vocals at the School of Rock in Blue Valley. She also plays cello, violin, and flute. When she was 3, she watched her mom play drums in awe and it began her musical journey.
As a high schooler, Elizabeth taught private music lessons, then studied audio engineering at IAEA in Kansas City. Her favorite band at the moment is Blind Melon and her favorite concert was Tool at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City in 2023.
She also plays bass for the indie artist Hillary Susz.
Elizabeth was a School of Rock student for six years before she began teaching at the School of Rock in Blue Valley. She loves it because she gets to watch the kids light up about music the same way she did.
Sarah Van Zwoll
Vocal Teacher, Guitar Teacher
Sarah has always loved music but she didn’t start singing until high school. Once she gained confidence as a singer she wanted to write her own songs and figured she would need a guitar for it.
In high school, she trained with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City High School Honors Artists in their young vocalist program, crediting this wonderful program for giving her a strong foundation in technique and understanding the mechanics of voice. She fell into musical theater in college at the University of Kansas and graduated with a BA in Theater Performance.
In her junior year, she auditioned and earned a full-ride scholarship for a one-year training program with the International College of Musical Theater in New York and London. After she graduated, Covid hit, and with theaters in New York closed, she leaned into songwriting and teaching herself guitar.
She has been in two operas at the Kauffman Center for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and was a lead in every musical she participated in for KU, though her favorite was Jo in Little Women.
She has always enjoyed kids, loves working with kids in music, and through the School of Rock in Blue Valley, she is getting the opportunity to play and sing her own songs around town. In high school, she was the youngest worker for the Lyric Opera children’s summer camp.
Her first concert was Aretha Franklin, which will always be one of the coolest shows she has gone to. She wishes she had a place like School of Rocl when she was younger, as she believes there is something magical about being a part of it now. She loves helping the kids grow their confidence, talent, and love for music.
Jace Kimbrell
Guitar Teacher, Bass Guitar Teacher
At a young age, Jace started playing saxophone in elementary school and the world of music blossomed for him. In the 7th grade, he discovered rock and roll and picked up the guitar! Soon after, he became a student at the School of Rock in Lee’s Summit, where he fell in love with live performance and songwriting.
He has a vocational degree in audio engineering covering mixing/mastering, live sound production, sound effects, voice-over, and music theory. He also writes his own music when he can!
He is an original/founding member of the Kansas City band Formalities and has original music released on most music streaming platforms under John & Jace.
He started teaching at the School of Rock Blue Valley, and as he progressed through the program he was invited to help out with Summer Camps and with new and younger students learning to play and perform on guitar or bass.
His all-time favorite band is The Strokes, with his current favorites being Tokyo Police Club and The Backseat Lovers.
Two live concerts that really inspired him were Foo Fighters and Carseat Headrest.
As a School of Rock alumnus, he knows how awesome the vibes are and the great relationships you get to make with the teachers and students. This place is a haven for musicians! He says that he has always known that he wanted to work with music and is lucky and happy to have this amazing opportunity!
Autumn Schulte
Vocals Teacher, Guitar Teacher, Keyboard + Piano Teacher
Autumn's path with music began at an early age. Singing and taking piano lessons by age four, soloing in church choir by seven, and formal voice lessons and training at ten. They were fairly certain they were a princess, and Disney made it clear princesses sang (so that’s all Autumn did non-stop). Autumn grew up in a huge family (I’m number 11), so they had to have something that made them stand out.
Voice lessons led to joining ensembles, show choirs and musical theatre. Autumn starting teaching music as a senior in high school teaching and directing the Christmas musical at a local private school, later earning a bachelor’s in Vocal Music Education (MSU) and Masters in Music Education. Since 2017, Autumn has been teaching general music education and leading choirs in classroom settings, currently teaching at Guadalupe Charter Schools working with children from pre-K through the second grade, as well as starting their high school choir program.
Since moving to the KC area, Autumn has participated acoustic duos performing on the rooftop of Dave and Busters to Jam bands and classic rock bands. They are currently the lead singer of Kynfolk KC, performing in KC and Ozark Lake area venues. Autumn founded, sings lead, and plays rhythm guitar player for Autumn Reign, an original band starting to get pretty busy in the local scene. Autumn connected with School of Rock Blue Valley through one of their bandmates who was a member of their really strong Adult band. Autumn loves getting to teach such a variety of ages and skill levels. It is such a unique opportunity to be a part of this program that helps turns kids into rockstars on and off the stage!
Blaire Geenens
Drums Teacher
Blaire's journey as a drummer began when they saw their uncles band perform at a neighborhood block party. Before college, they took private lessons and started bands with my friends. In high school, Blaire was heavily involved with their school's competitive drumline and started accumulating some private students. In 2015, Blaire travelled to Los Angeles to attend the Musicians Institute of Technology (THE MIT) in Hollywood where they received a certificate in percussion performance and education. Along the way, Blaire has studied with iconic drummers including Thomas Lang, Josh Freeze and Thomas Pridgen.
Blaire has spent a number of years writing, recording and touring with some KC- and LA-based bands including Clairaudients, The Atlantic, The Hollow Suns, True American, Jake Wells (finalist on “The Voice”), The Sunwrecks, Organized Crimes, and Dock Hellis. Their current project is called Pure XTC, a dynamic Alt-Pop duo reminiscent of artists like Lorde and Metric. A career highlight for them has been playing a sold-out Roxy in West Hollywood, drumming for hip-hop legends Kosha Dillz, Mickey Avalon, and Dirt Nasty.
School of Rock Blue Valley hangs up the shirt-and-tie aesthetic Blaire was forced to learn in growing up and replaced it with a structured but flexible environment where we can truly meet students' needs and interests, as well as the sprawl of styles and experiences the team brings to our community. We really have a lot to offer our students.
School of Rock is where music and learning come together
For over twenty years, our amazing instructors have transformed hundreds of thousands of students across the world into skilled musicians. Become a musician at School of Rock.